The Indomitable Hand of Fate
by wyanmai
Summary: Female Hikaru is a music prodigy, but she is determined to have both her music and a normal teenage life. When she is haunted by Sai, she must figure out where go—and, by extension, all the boys who play go—fit into her perfect plan. To complicate things further, underneath it all, there seems to be a persistent current of fate pushing towards her destiny. Full summary inside
1. Chapter 1

Full Summary: Hikaru Shindo is just a normal teenaged girl—only, she is also a music prodigy. Sure, she spends most of her days practicing her harp, but she is determined to make time for some normal teenager things. That is, until the ghost of a certain go fanatic takes up residence in her soul. Now, she has to fit all of this go playing into her very full life, and soon she doesn't know what her priorities are anymore. That boy prodigy at the go salon and the loud-mouthed redhead aren't helping her maintain a clear mind, not to mention the stoically earnest Korean player. What's a girl to do? And, underneath it all, there seems to be a persistent current of fate, pushing her away from what she loves and towards her destiny.

* * *

A/N:

For the purposes of my story, I've decided to push the Hokuto Cup one year later, to 2003. I've also changed the names and locations of real schools and colleges in Tokyo to better suit my creative needs, so don't fact check me!

Pairings: I'm going to say…HikaruXeveryone for now. She's young! We'll let her have some fun before she settles down. Eventually, I'll settle on a pairing. There are just too many cute boys in the anime! How exciting.

* * *

Chapter 1: In which we meet Hikaru, a normal teenager, more or less…

April 2002

"Hikaru, did I really have to come up here with you? All this dust is making my— _achoo!"_ Fujisaki Akari sneezed so hard that she nearly toppled over.

Shindou Hikaru turned around from her rummaging and frowned at her friend.

"Gee, sorry, Akari. I didn't think you were so prone to allergies. Wait for me downstairs then? I'll be right down."

"Okay, but hurry," said Akari, dusting off her plaid uniform skirt and descending the ladder.

For a few minutes, the two girls were silent. Akari had pulled out her bejeweled flip-phone to check her texts, while Hikaru rummaged through the old, crumbling boxes that lined the shelves. The tenth-graders were in the shed behind Grandpa Shindou's house, and Hikaru was looking for the intricate rosewood music stand in her grandfather's possession. Her plain metal stand at home had finally breathed its last breath yesterday, having fallen over and broken into two. This was the perfect opportunity to take that beautiful stand off her grandpa's hands.

Akari sighed as she responded to the messages on her phone. What was Hikaru thinking, anyway? Sure, from what she'd said, that music stand sounded pretty, but wasn't rosewood a reddish color? And wasn't Hikaru's harp a light brown? Those two colors would definitely clash, so she couldn't imagine why Hikaru didn't just ask her mom to buy her a new stand. If Akari wasn't such a supportive friend, there was no way she'd even be here.

"Come on, where is it?" Hikaru mumbled upstairs, rubbing the dust from her nose as she stood and looked around. "Gramps said it was in here! He'd better not have put it somewhere else and forgotten about it."

"Hey, Hikaru," Akari's voice came from downstairs, "I think it's starting to rain! We'd better head home."

"Dammit. Okay, I'm coming!" Just as Hikaru was about to give up her search and head down the ladder, a block of wood peeking out from one corner caught her eye. "Wait, Akari, I actually think I found it!"

"Yeah? Wait, I'm coming up," Akari said as she scrambled to her feet and up the ladder in record time. Hikaru had been waxing poetic all day about how beautiful the music stand was. Now, even Akari, who only enjoyed a passing interest in her cello, was anxious to see it.

The two girls made a beeline for the wooden object, moving aside several pieces of old furniture and old garden decorations, sending clouds of dust into the air. Through the haze, Hikaru saw, to her disappointment, that the wooden object was not the music stand she'd been looking for.

"Hm," Hikaru pouted, clapping the dust off her hands. "Well, I that was a bust."

"Huh. But what is it, though?" Akari, curious at the wooden block, stooped down next to it for a better look. "It's like a _chabudai_ table of some sort."

"Oh," Hikaru exclaimed as she, too, bent down next to it, "It's a go board!" Carefully, she wiped at its dusty surface with the sleeve of her uniform shirt.

"A what board?"

"A go board," Hikaru repeated, pointing at the black ink grid below the dust. "My grandpa likes to play with his buddies. If I remember right, you have white and black stones, and you take turns placing them on these intersections here."

"Huh. Interesting," said Akari. "I think I've heard of go before. Maybe on TV."

Unconsciously, a small smile played at the corner of Hikaru's mouth.

"Hm? Hikaru? What's funny?"

"Oh, nothing. I just remembered how my grandpa used to have his go-fanatic friends over to play when he'd babysit me. I'd bring that little Celtic harp I have—"

"Oh my gosh, that really cute one with the pink levers?"

"Yeah, that one! Anyway, I'd make my mom bring it, and I'd play concerts as background entertainment for while Gramps' friends played their games."

"Oh, Hikaru-chan, you used to be so adorable!"

Hikaru gave her a look and a smile that said _well, of course I was,_ then turned back to the old board.

"Hmm, I wonder what happened to this board, though," Hikaru said almost to herself, frowning down at the rusty stains in the upper corner.

"What do you mean, 'what happened'?"

"Well, here," Hikaru pointed at the stains, and rubbed the board again with her sleeve. "You see these stains? They won't come off."

"What? Stains? I don't see any stains."

"Right here! See? It looks a little like dried blood."

 _"You can see the stains, can't you?"_

"Akari, that's what I've been trying to—

 _"You can hear my voice, can't you?"_ Hikaru's head snapped up. This time she had heard the voice clearly, and it certainly didn't belong to Akari. No, this voice echoed in the shed, filling her ears with a crisp ring.

Hikaru slowly stood to her feet, eyes round like a doe's. "Who is it? Who's there?"

"Hikaru, what are you saying? What's wrong? You're scaring me!" Akari rose too, frowning at Hikaru, whose face was growing more frantic by the second.

" _I've found you! I've finally found you!"_

"Is that Grandpa? Who's talking? Where are you? Show yourself!" Hikaru's eyes darted wildly around the room, searching, her hands clenched tightly into fists.

Akari tried to step forward and grip Hikaru's arm, but in her own panic tripped on a sideways stool and fell over.

"Ouch!she cried, but Hikaru didn't hear her.

" _I thank all the gods and spirits under Heaven,"_ the voice echoed again. " _Finally…finally…"_

And suddenly, all Hikaru saw was light. Ghostly, watery orbs of green and blue rose around her and twisted around her body. She could feel a presence settling in around her, large and strong and _grand._

 _What in the world…?_

 _"Finally, once again, I have returned to this world!"_ Before Hikaru's eyes, a brilliant white light began to take shape, and soon she could see the outlines of a white and purple kimono, then a flash of black mesh fabric, and finally, wisps of violet that looked like long hair.

Slowly, the form raised his glowing head, and she saw before her a tall, beautiful man in a black nobleman's hat. He wore a white, round-necked noshi robe over a purple kimono and turquoise _hakama_ , and in his hand was an exquisite dancing fan. He opened his eyes in a flash of indigo, and in that moment, Hikaru lost all sense of the world.

* * *

Hikaru felt as if she were swimming through snow. None of her senses seemed to be working, and all she could grasp was the voice of the ghost. Was he speaking to her? He must be speaking to her. Yes, she could hear his voice. She could hear his story.

Hikaru wanted to weep for this Fujiwara no Sai, for this Heian nobleman whose life was a thousand years away from her own. All he wanted was to play go. All he wanted to do was the one thing he loved, and yet it was cruelly taken away from him. Even given another chance with Torajiro, he still could not achieve the one thing for which his heart yearned. _I understand,_ she thought.

" _I want to play go again. It is my only wish. For I have yet to reach the divine move."_

" _I understand."_

* * *

Hikaru was rudely awakened by the loud squawking of her cellphone. Startled, she sat straight up, her eyes about to bulge out of their sockets. Frantically, she slapped her bedside table in search of the offensive device. This ringtone did not announce just any old caller. No, this squawking ringtone belonged to her long-time harp teacher, the one and only Suzuki-sensei. Even if Hikaru had died the night before, hearing that ringtone would likely raise her from the grave to answer it.

Without giving herself time to think, Hikaru flipped open her phone and pressed it to her ear.

" _Moshi moshi,_ Suzuki-sensei," Hikaru chirped, trying to wring the sleepy rasp out of her voice.

"— _Hikaru-chan? Is that you? For the love of Kami-sama, what were you thinking yesterday, fainting like that? I was so worried, I almost rushed to the hospital when your mother called me! And she told me she had to get you back home all while you were half unconscious? Honestly, what happened, you clumsy girl?_

Oh! I…I'm sorry, sensei. I don't know what happened either, to be honest…I sort of just…collapsed…"

"— _Just collapsed?! I've never heard of anything so ridiculous!"_ The elderly woman's voice was shrill, and Hikaru had to hold the phone a few inches from her heard to prevent eardrum damage.

"— _Really, girl, do you know how dangerous that was? Next time you really must sit down before you faint like that! You're a musician! Your hands are your life! You can't go around falling down like any old Joe, you know. You're lucking you didn't hurt anything!"_

Hikaru pursed her lips.

Objectively, Suzuki-sensei was right, of course. She was a very serious harp player. It would have been a nightmare if she'd sprained a finger or something similar. Not being able to play for weeks because of something stupid like a fainting spell? How embarrassing would that be?

However… _however_ …did Suziku-sensei really have to make it sound like Hikaru could have stopped herself from fainting and falling over?

 _I didn't do it on purpose,_ she grumbled to herself.

 _Yeah, but I'd like to see you actually say that to Sensei,_ her sardonic self rolled her eyes.

Sighing, Hikaru could only offer profuse apologies to her harp teacher.

"— _Well, your mother says there's nothing wrong with you, so at least there's that. The doctors all checked, so you should be fine for our lesson today, right girl?"_

Uh…right. Yes, Sensei." _Dammit! I completely forgot I have a lesson today!_

"— _Good, good, I'll see you later today then! Make sure you don't forget to bring that new Bach Toccata again! I know you've got it memorized, but you have to pity an old woman! My memory isn't what it was, you know. Oh, and make sure to eat a good breakfast. Wouldn't want you falling over again, now would we?"_ Suzuki-sensei chuckled at her own quip, and, after a few more words of admonition, hung up the phone.

"Phew, what a way to wake up," Hikaru grumbled, puffing her cheeks and letting the air out in an audible sigh. She looked down at her phone. The monochrome screen read 5:45 AM.

 _So. Freaking. Early._

 _"Indeed, that was quite the noisy wakeup call, was it not?"_ The silvery male voice beside her startled Hikaru so much that she jerked her head up way too quickly and hit the back of her skull on her headboard. It made contact with a dull _thud_.

" _Oh no! I didn't mean to frighten you! Are you alright? Please be alright!"_

"You! You…you… _you're real?"_

 _"Well, yes," the ghost nodded. "As real as any spirit could be."_

 _"And…andandand…so last night wasn't a dream?"_ This time, Hikaru didn't speak out loud. Instead, she instinctively knew how to direct her thoughts at the spirit.

" _No, it most certainly was not a dream."_

 _"Um, okay then."_

 _I'm definitely hallucinating. How could this possibly be real?_ One look at the white-clad nobleman in the room, however, and Hikaru could only accept this as reality.

 _"Sorry, what did you say your name was?"_

The ghost stood up to his full height, and Hikaru craned her neck as she followed his movement.

" _Fujiwara no Sai, at your service. Pleasure to meet you."_ He made a low, formal bow.

A little flustered by his formality, Hikaru felt her face flush. She was rash and had a loud mouth, to be sure, but years of musical training had taught her enough manners for her to know it would be to continue sitting in bed.

Flustered, she also got to her feet and bowed, not realizing how strange she appeared, making a formal bow in yellow pajamas.

" _Right…uh…Shindou Hikaru. Nice to meet you_ , _er…Fujiwara…sama?_ " Hikaru was unsure of what to call him, but the honorific for royalty seemed to be the only proper way to address an ancient nobleman.

 _"Oh, my! Please, all that formality is not necessary! You humble me with such undeserved respect!"_ The ghost appeared quite flustered, hand over mouth.

 _"Please, just call me Sai,"_ he continued. _"That would be best."_

 _"Oh,"_ said Hikaru. It was bit strange to forgo any honorifics altogether with a basic stranger, but seeing as she and the ghost were now _literal soul mates,_ she would say they were more than familiar. _"Well then, I suppose it would be best if you called me Hikaru."_

* * *

The ghost and the girl sat across from each other on the floor. Hikaru rested her face on her palm, elbow on knee, and stared at her new companion.

" _I guess I'm the only one who can see you, huh? And you can't touch anything solid?_

 _"That's right. It is because I am part of your soul."_

 _"That's…somewhat creepy."_

 _"I apologize."_

Suddenly, Hikaru had an even creepier thought.

" _Um…you can't actually take over by body, can you?"_ Hikaru asked warily.

" _Goodness, no! I am not that __sort of ghost,"_ Sai gasped, appalled. " _Even if I had that ability, I would never think of possessing you!"_

 _"Oh. I see. Well, good then. That's a relief. You're just going to haunt my mind."_

 _"I deeply appreciate your making room for me in your life."_

" _Right. And are you sure you can't go haunt someone else?"_ Hikaru raised an eyebrow.

 _"No, I'm afraid it has to be you."_

 _"Huh. Well that's a shame, then."_

 _"Why do you say that?"_

 _"Well, you really love go, right? And you really, really want to play again?"_

 _"Yes, that's right, that's right!"_ Hikaru could hear the excitement in the ghost's voice. She sighed.

" _Unfortunately, then, I can't help you. I have no interest in go. I don't think I'll ever play it."_

Sai let out a heart wrenching sob, and before Hikaru knew what was happening, a hulking wave of nausea and dread washed through her. Her stomach lurched, and she nearly ran right through her sliding doors to get to the bathroom.

After a few moments of gagging, she glared up at Sai.

" _What the hell was that?! I thought you said you couldn't possess me!"_ Hikaru picked up her hairbrush and attempted to knock Sai on the head with it. Of course, this course of attack failed miserably, and as the brush went right through his face, Hikaru lost balance and nearly fell into the bathtub.

 _"No, no! I didn't possess you, I swear,"_ stammered the accused. " _All I did was show you my sorrow at not being able to play go! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"_

"Dude, do you know what that felt like? What the actual hell?! There was a second where I thought I was literally going to die! From emotional poisoning!" She was yelling out loud now, and only stopped when she realized she would wake up her parents if she continued.

 _"I'm really, really sorry, Hikaru! Really! That's never happened before! I'm sorry!"_

Taking a deep breath, Hikaru returned to her seat on her bedroom floor. Sai followed.

 _"It's alright, I guess. No real harm done._ Hikaru mumbled. " _Just_ please, _don't do that again._ _Anyway, like I said, I don't know how play go, and I don't really have extra time to learn."_

 _"But last night! Last night you told me you understood! I thought it meant…"_

 _"Well, yes, I do understand,"_ Hikaru sighed again. _"I mean, I understand your emotions. You love go, and all your happiest moments are when you can play go. I get it—that kind of love and devotion. I feel it all the time, too."_

 _"Oh, is that so?"_ Sai suddenly perked up, very interested. " _Tell me, Hikaru, what do you love to do?"_

"Play harp," Hikaru answered out loud. Her lips curled into a little smile, and she walked to the concert grand harp standing against the wall. The whole thing was made from fine, wheat-colored spruce wood, and the crown and pillar were elegantly tapered. The sound box flared out at the bottom in a pleasing gourd shape, and the feet were decorated with darker wood highlights.

" _Ah,_ " nodded Sai, appreciating the grace of this foreign instrument, _"I thought this might have been an instrument_." The previous night, while Hikaru slept, Sai had taken a long, close examination of Hikaru's entire room, including her desk, her bookshelf, her mysterious set of grey boxes, (which included one with a shiny black face and two with many tiny holes on the front), and finally, this large instrument. Sai hadn't seen a harp before, but the shape of the instrument reminded him of something he'd seen back in the Heian days, in one of the emperor's antique collections.

" _It's a pedal harp. It comes from the West."_

 _"The West? Like the West where Commodore Perry was from?"_

 _"Ah! Right! I forgot you were there for that."_ Hikaru thought for a moment, deciding that Europe and the US could pretty much be lumped together into "the West".

 _"Uh…they're not exactly the same place, but close enough."_

 _"I see, I see. Tell me more, Hikaru!"_

 _"Uh…well, its sound comes from plucking varying lengths of string. The red and blue strings indicate certain notes, to make it easier to find your way around. You play like this, see?"_ She plucked an arpeggio with her right hand. A clear string of notes tumbled into the air.

" _Wow! My, oh my,"_ Sai's head bobbed with interest, " _What a unique, lovely sound. I believe I've seen something with this shape at the Heian court. The emperor said it was an old instrument, but what was it called…"_

 _"A kogu?"_

 _"Yes! A kogu! My, Hikaru, you are certainly a knowledgeable young woman!"_

Hikaru had the decency to blush.

 _"Well, no, I wouldn't say that,"_ she stammered. " _I just know a whole lot about anything harp related, that's all. The harp went through a lot of different incarnations before it took this form."_

 _"Say, Hikaru,"_ Sai asked, staring at the back of the harp now, completely missing Hikaru's embarrassment. _"What are these feet back here? The black ones? They're quite adorable!"_

 _"Those are called pedals."_ She pulled over her stool, hopped on, and hugged the harp to her shoulder, one knee on each side of the sound box. With her right foot, she pressed one of the pedals down and secured it into the second notch.

 _"You can change the sound of a single string by half a pitch. Here, listen."_

She played one of the red strings, moved the pedal down one more notch, and played the red string again. This time, the sound came out a half step higher.

 _"Oh! How intriguing! This instrument is so clever! It's like one of those…what do you call them…_ machines! _It's like those curious machines the_ gaijin _brought from their black ships."_

 _"Sai, if you're excited about harp mechanics, just wait until I take you outside today,"_ Hikaru smirked. She could already imagine the ghost's incredulous excitement.

Sai took a step back, looking Hikaru up and down as she perched on her stool and held her harp. Even in her strange yellow outfit, there was something elegant and serene about the girl who had, minutes ago, been trying to hit him with a hairbrush.

 _"Hikaru, will you play something for me, then?"_

 _"Yes,"_ Hikaru smiled at him. It wasn't the cheeky smile she'd been giving him all morning. This smile was soft and light, yet full of satisfaction. As she adjusted the pedals and began to play, hints of the smile still hung at the corners of her lips.

Hikaru played Albert Zabel's "La Source". It was full of arpeggios and flowing note sequences—all pretty typical of classical harp music. Hikaru reasoned that, if Sai was going to get a full introduction to western Romantic era music, this piece would be sending him straight into the deep end.

Hikaru grinned to herself. _Maybe I'll play him Debussy next. Or maybe some Celtic stuff. Then Sai will really get the whole immersive experience._

As the piece settled into rhythm, then picked up speed, Hikaru forgot about Sai standing at the edge of her consciousness. She eyes focused intently on her fingers as they plucked the strings up and down the harp, but half of her mind wandered with the melody. The notes flowed like the fountain the piece portrayed, washing over her like celestial rain. Playing music was always this strange mix of hyper-focus and daydream. It was the sensation of the two mixing that made her drunk each time she played.

When the last rich notes were plucked, Hikaru silenced the strings with the palms of her hands, then looked over at Sai.

For a few moments, Sai only looked at her, expression earnest, hands meeting in front of his chest, tucked into the sleeves of his kimono.

 _"Hikaru, you are spectacular,"_ Sai finally said. He didn't raise his voice, or sound overly surprised. He said it simply, as if stating a universal truth.

 _"I know nothing of this western music of yours, but from what I see and hear, you are a truly spectacular musician."_

Hikaru simply smiled, inclined her head, and thanked him. She didn't blush. She didn't get embarrassed. Her music was her one certainty. She had absolute confidence in her playing. She was good, she knew. She was more than good. It was objective. There was no need for fake modesty.

 _"So you see, Sai, that this is my life. I do try to be a normal girl, but the fact is I spend almost all of my time practicing and studying music. I can't help it. Because I'm good, but I know I can be much, much better. I guess you could say that I'm looking for my own divine move of sorts, just like you. A moment of perfect inspiration, maybe, in which I play a piece so perfectly it's divine beyond human hands."_

Sai nodded, thoughtfully tapping his fan against his chin. He tried not to let his disappointment show in his face. He certainly had no right. He had, quite rudely, imposed on the life of a girl who was perfectly happy with her own life and her own dreams. Here she was, an impressive—no, brilliant—musician, who wanted nothing more than to spend her life playing music. Who was he to ask her to do something she had no interest in? No, that would never do. He could never. _What to do, what to do?_

Hikaru looked at the contemplative ghost, and, despite his efforts, she could see the sadness radiating from his face. Suddenly, she felt overwhelming awe for Sai. She may have been a little flowery with her language just now, but it was the essence of what she wanted with her music. Even so, did she really love music so much that, even after death, she would choose to be a floating ghost—haunting the world without a body, unable to pass into the afterlife—just to keep playing? She was not certain.

Sure, she loved music with her entire being. That was a given. Her mother was a concert pianist. Music was always in her life, even before she was born. It was part of her. The Shindou Hikaru she knew wouldn't be Shindou Hikaru without music. And yet, it was not her entire life. If she couldn't play harp, she would be lost, like a barren tree caught in a blizzard, but would she really lose the will to live?

She couldn't answer that. Not now. But Sai could. Obviously, he could, because he did. His entire existence was now only for the sake of playing go. At this thought, she inhaled deeply, letting her thoughts settle. She did understand him, after all.

"You know what, Sai?" she finally exhaled. "I'll take you to play go."

At this, Sai's head popped up as if his neck was a spring.

 _"But…but Hikaru…you don't…"_

" _No, Sai, it's alright,"_ she smiled back. " _It can't hurt to play once in a while. This way, I can find something in common with Gramps, too. Besides, I said I spend almost all my time on music. I do do other things sometimes too, you know. Go can just be one of them." _Yes, the more she thought about it, the more she was liking this new plan.

 _"Really, Hikaru? You're not just trying to make me feel better? You really think it's a good idea? It really won't disrupt your practice?"_

 _"Hey, now, are you questioning my time management skills?"_ Hikaru raised an eyebrow. _"I'll have you know, no one's ever told me I didn't practice enough. Not once! Not even Suzuki-sensei!"_ Hikaru huffed, then turned around to set her harp pedals back into place.

" _Oh, thank you, thank you, Hikaru!"_ soothed a beaming Sai. " _Of course I trust you can manage your time. I'm just too overjoyed! I get to play go again! I can't believe it! I can hardly wait!"_ Now he was trying to hug her, and, although he couldn't really touch her, she could feel his ghostly presence all up in her face.

Hikaru rolled her eyes and grinned. This ghost was starting to grow on her. _"Well, try to contain your excitement a bit longer, Sai,"_ she said, opening her closet and retrieving a fresh change of her uniform. " _We have to get through a whole day of school first, but I promise I'll take you to play after we're done."_

The rest of the early morning passed quickly as Hikaru got ready for school, explaining to Sai everything from the concept of the modern school system to why she could light such a bright candle on her ceiling without even touching it. Hikaru had thought that, since Sai had already experienced this time-skip situation once before, he would, perhaps, be a little less enthusiastic about modern inventions.

She was very wrong. By the time she had eaten her breakfast and headed out the door to wait for Akari, she was beginning to wonder how it was possible for a dead person to be so lively. This day was already tiring her out. Over breakfast, she had tried to explain electricity, but, being clueless about science, had resorted to showing Sai a few things on her flip phone and attributing it to "scientific magic".

Then, Sai had frolicked about the kitchen, asking about all sorts of appliances and marveling at the different colors of bowls, cups, and utensils their family had.

 _"Hikaru, what are all these metal pointy things in here? Are they from the West, too?"_

 _"Yup. Those are forks. For…stabbing food, I guess."_

 _"Wow, I am glad to see all these Western things in use. That must mean we Japanese have kept good relationships with them since they came on their ships, right?"_

 _"Eh…"_

 _"Back then, Torajiro and I were very worried that war was going to break out. I am so happy we've kept the peace for so long!"_

 _"Well…actually…"_ Hikaru then had to give a horrified Sai the briefest overview of the Second World War.

And _then_ , Sai had noticed the length of her skirt, and had been appalled by the lack of modesty in this modern day and age.

 _"Hikaru, really, the yellow garment you called "pajamas" was alright, but this! This skirt! Do all girls go around showing their legs? What has the world come to?"_

Hikaru rolled her eyes. _"Sai, this is the modern age. When it gets hot, we show our arms and legs. Girls aren't marriage pawns for their families anymore, so this whole modesty thing isn't that important anymore. Girls can do what they want these days._

Sai seemed to think this was a revolutionary explanation on modest dress, and took several minutes of silence to mull it over. This reprieve was short-lived, however, because as soon as they stepped out onto the sidewalk, Sai's questions began anew.

It was a huge relief when Akari showed up, even though Akari had questions of her own.

"Hikaru, are you sure you're okay to go to school today? You really scared me yesterday!"

Hikaru tried for an apologetic grin, but it came out looking more like a grimace.

"I'm really sorry about that, Akari," she said, "I don't know what happened. I just got lightheaded. Probably should have eaten more at lunch yesterday."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: In which we realize that Hikaru is a shameless flirt…

At school, her two other best friends, Rumi-chan and Hanako-chan, bustled about her just as Akari had, worrying. Akari had apparently told quite a few people about their incident yesterday, because now it seemed that everyone in class who had any acquaintance with Hikaru came up to her to ask how she was.

Normally, Hikaru loved this sort of attention. Even though she was away a fair bit for recitals and competitions, Hikaru's open attitude and friendly energy made her quite popular among her classmates. She was nice—if a bit cheeky—with everyone, and she loved always having someone to talk to. Today, however, with Sai also bombarding her with questions, she couldn't even spare a thought to herself. Frankly, it was exhausting.

Her classmates and friends weren't very bothered. After all, she had just taken a ride in an ambulance yesterday. She must be tired. And so, thankfully, they let her be. The day passed with little incident, and even her 1PM lesson with Suzuki-sensei was more subdued than usual. Her eccentric teacher seemed to sense that Hikaru was too tired for her ramblings, so after only a few minutes of scolding she allowed the lesson to proceed.

Hikaru attended Rokuoji Academy, one of the biggest high schools in Tokyo. It was also one of the best, with many top university acceptances each year, but Hikaru wasn't there for the academics. Instead, she, like many aspiring teenage musicians, artists, and athletes, came to Rokuoji because it could allow them a very flexible schedule and a pass on electives while still giving them a decent education. She was, for example, excused from her first afternoon class every day. On normal days, Hikaru would use the two hours as extra practice time. On Wednesdays like today, she had her harp lesson with Suzuki-sensei, who, conveniently, lived nearby. Suzuki-sensei was a professor at the Tokyo College of Music, so it was an honor for Hikaru to be her pupil at all, but the fact that she came to her high school to give her lessons? It was unheard of for any of the sensei's other students, that was certain.

Schoolwork itself was not challenging from an academic point of view. Hikaru was a pretty smart girl, if she did say so herself. She got better-than-average grades, and when she really did poorly in math and science, her teachers took her music into consideration and went easy on her. Of course, this was only possible because she was on the "special-track" at school—that is, the easiest track, for students who weren't actually there to focus on academics. If she were taking the normal academic track like Akari, Hikaru knew she would have failed out by now. More than once.

Nonetheless, school was becoming more and more trying as she got older. The very necessity of doing homework every night and spending seven hours at school each day was a little tiresome. The problem was, she didn't _want_ to go to an easier high school, and she certainly didn't want to drop out. Hikaru had been at Rokuoji since junior high, and she had a lot of friends. Coming here made her feel somewhat normal, and, considering the vast majority of her life was consumed by harp, high school was her last connection to a normal teenaged life. Hikaru knew she wasn't a typical teenager, nor did she want to be. Still, somehow she could never let go of that little glimpse of normal, so Hikaru pushed through. She had three more years left. She was going to enjoy them as a normal teenager, even if they sometimes felt like a grind.

* * *

As the bells signaled the end of the school day, Hikaru shot out of her seat. If she was going to make this go thing work, she'd have to hurry from one place to another to leave herself ample practice time later.

"Hey, Hikaru, wait up!" Rumi-chan's voice called from behind. Hikaru pursed her lips before turning to face her friends with a apology. She'd hoped to slip out without anyone noticing.

"Hey, sorry you guys. I've got to go like, right now."

"What? You're not going home with us? We were going to stop along the way for shaved ice," Akari pouted.

"No, sorry. I have to…uh, I have a thing. You guys have fun, though."

"Alright, Hikaru," said Akari, frowning slightly, "But don't forget we have band practice tomorrow. The talent show is coming up really soon!"

"Don't worry! I've got my part all down," Hikaru waved as she skipped down the halls and out the front gates.

 _"Say, Hikaru,"_ Sai nudged as Hikaru speed-walked to the train station, " _Where are we going to play go, huh? Have you been there before? Are the players strong?"_

 _"Hmmm, I actually have no idea what kind of place we're going o,"_ Hikaru mused. _"I just know it's a go salon because I've seen the sign near the music college."_

 _"I see! So it's a mystery then! How exciting!"_

 _"Sai, is there anything you haven't found exciting in the past day you've been with me?"_

 _"Hikaru! Are you mocking me? How cruel!"_

 _"Psh, I'm not mocking you, Sai! C'mon, lighten up. I'm just making our commute more interesting."_

 _"Well, for your information, I find anything related to go incredibly exciting."_

 _"Sai, you're almost too cute for words."_

 _"Hikaru! There you go again! Mocking me!"_

On the train—after Sai was done marveling at the speed of the "white metal dragon" they were traveling in—Hikaru received a verbal walkthrough of the rules of go. It sounded pretty simple to her, actually. The only purpose was the surround area on the board, after all. She could see how it could get very complicated, though. With 361 possible points to place a stone, there would be billions of ways to get to one's goal. Hikaru was starting to get a little excited about seeing Sai play.

Girl and ghost soon disembarked at Suidōbashi station, and as Hikaru walked purposefully down the busy streets, trying to remember the exact place she had seen the go salon sign, her companion stopped every few steps to gaze around him. This was the busiest part of Tokyo they'd been to that day, and Sai's brain was about to explode. Was _this_ what the cities of the future looked like? All those colors everywhere! And those lights! Sai didn't even know where to start his questions anymore. Just taking everything in was exhausting, and he kept thinking he was going to miss something amazing.

It should have been no surprise, then, that neither girl nor ghost noticed the blue-haired young man wobbling out of a nearby bookstore, face hidden behind a stack of books while trying to balance a tray of six drinks in one hand.

 _THUD._ Hikaru bumped fully and spectacularly into the young man's chest, sending him falling backwards onto the ground and all his possessions flying around them.

"Hey!" Reeling from the impact herself, but still on her feet, Hikaru's first response was to chew out the person responsible for her stumble. Sai's worried cries, however, brought some clarity to the situation. She blinked, looking from the man on the ground, rubbing his butt, to the books that had scattered around him, and finally to the spilled drinks lying on the ground. Some of the contents of said drinks had ended up on the books, though thankfully, not on the young man.

It only took a moment for Hikaru to formulate a plan. Clearly, it was her fault those books were ruined, but maybe, if she played this right, she could weasel out of paying for them.

Plastering an innocent, worried expression on her face, she rushed to the handsome young man and crouched down next to him. She placed one hand on his shoulder and the other on his arm.

"Hey, are you alright? I'm so, so sorry! Geez, I'm such a klutz! I should have watched where I was going! Please tell me you're alright!" Actually, from the man's dazed expression, Hikaru was really starting to get a little worried about him. She didn't hear him hit his head on the way down, so he couldn't have brain damage, could he?

Startled at the warm hands on his shoulder and arm, Isumi looked up from his spot on the pavement to see a pretty girl looking at him with wide, dark green doe eyes. For a few seconds, he didn't really understand what was happening. He had been on his way to Waya's study group, and, being the nice guy he was, had gotten drinks for everyone there. Along the way, he had caught sight of a sign in the bookstore announcing a huge sale for the _kifu_ of some old masters. Of course, he needed to buy as many as he could carry. _Kifu_ were expensive, and he didn't like to use the dusty ones at the Go Association.

He was just leaving the store when, out of nowhere, something hit him hard in the chest, and the next thing he knew, he was on the ground. Isumi looked at the girl for a few more seconds, registering the situation, before suddenly realizing something. His head jerked up, and he looked around at the mess of drinks and _kifu_ lying around him.

"Oh no," he groaned, and tried to get up. The girl was quicker, and stood up to give him a hand. He took it—he needed the help—then grinned a weak grin. "Thanks."

"Oh, don't mention it," she said, her hand now dusting off his shirt sleeve. "And it's my fault you're in this predicament, anyway. Here, let me help you pick up."

She flashed him an apologetic, wide-eyed smile, gave him a pat on the arm, and began gathering his _kifu._ He joined her, still a bit bewildered. Isumi assumed he should be…angry? She did walk right into him, after all. Still, she seemed genuinely sorry, and genuinely nice. Besides, he shouldn't have let that tower of books block his vision. He couldn't quite get himself to be mad at her.

Sai was observing this entire scene—in particular, the placement of Hikaru's hands and the young man's changing expression—in a state of scandalized stupefaction. Was Hikaru really doing what he thought she was doing? How could…but how…? He had so many questions.

 _"Hikaru, Hikaru,"_ Sai fluttered around her as she dusted off one of the books. " _What in the_ world _are you doing? I don't believe this!"_

 _"I have no idea what you're talking about,"_ Hikaru responded, her voice dripping with harmlessness.

 _"Yes you do! Hikaru! You're trying to seduce him!'_ Sai may have been a go fanatic, but years spent among the consorts at the emperor's court meant that Sai knew the tricks pretty women used to get their way when he saw them. He sure was seeing Hikaru use every trick in the book.

" _Oh, I wouldn't say I'm seducing him,"_ Hikaru rolled her eyes. _"I'm just, you know, flirting a bit. Hopefully he won't make me pay for his books this way."_

 _"But Hikaru, how could you say that? It was your fault! You have to offer to pay!"_

 _"Oh, relax, Sai. I wasn't going to just leave. Of course I'm offering to pay. I'm just buttering him up a bit, you know? So the situation doesn't get tense."_

 _"Hikaru…but…"_

 _" Don't worry. I know how to handle this. I promise I won't be a bad person. You'll see."_ It was true. Hikaru did know how to handle this. She was enough of a klutz to get herself into similar, destructive situations on a regular basis, so she'd certainly had enough practice.

In the end, only two _kifu_ were stained by the drinks, but still, the young man was now dusty, drink-less, and down two books. Hikaru had gone into this hoping to cut herself some slack, but now she was really starting to feel bad him. She did make him fall, after all, and he looked like a good guy.

"Well," Hikaru finally sighed, shaking the two wet volumes in her hand. "I think these two have lost the battle."

"Yeah, looks like there's no saving them." Isumi frowned. He was certainly late now, but what was he going to do about his _kifu_?

"Um, if you'd like, I can pay you back for the books and the drinks," Hikaru started, still looking at him with her big, sad eyes.

"Oh," the young man looked startled, as if he hadn't expected her offer. "No, that's alright. It's not really a big deal."

"But I insist! It was all my fault." Again, she placed a hand on his arm, earning her major side-eye from Sai.

"No…uh…no, please, it wasn't completely your fault. I wasn't watching the road either."

"Come on, at least let me pay you for the books," she pressed, and couldn't help smirking to herself just a little.

 _"Hikaru! How sly!"_

 _"But Sai! I'm not made of money, you know. I take what slack I can."_

 _"This young man doesn't look very wealthy either!"_

 _"Which is why I'm really paying for those books."_

"I…well…are you sure?" The girl was still in high school judging from her uniform, and he felt a little bad accepting. "They were on sale from that bookstore right there, but still, they weren't cheap."

Internally, Hikaru gave a little sigh.

 _"Not cheap, huh? Well, I guess this is the way it goes today. I can't help it if I have a soft heart, can I?"_

She heard Sai scoff, but ignored him.

"Sure, I'm sure," she gave him her sweetest smile. "Like I said—all my fault. Lead the way."

* * *

" _Oh, these are_ kifu _, Hikaru,"_ Sai exclaimed over Hikaru's shoulder as they made their way to the bookstore. The young man ahead still looked a bit reluctant and embarrassed, and was trying to dust off his shirt sleeves and jeans.

 _"They're what?"_

 _"Kifu are records of games,"_ Sai explained as Hikaru opened up a soggy volume to a page showing the middle of a go game. All the stones had a number written in them. _"The order of the moves are recorded on the stones, so people can recreate the games later."_

" _Recreate them? Why would people do that?"_

 _"To learn from previous games, of course! Go is very deep, you know. There's always something to learn through watching others play, and if you can't watch them play, their kifu are basically the equivalent!"_

"I see. Kifu, huh?" Hikaru murmured out loud. Her voice caught the attention of the young man in front of her.

"You know what these are?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

"Oh…um…yeah, sure," Hikaru stammered. "They're records of go matches. Since you bought so many, does that mean you play go?"

"Yeah, I do. I'm a professional go player, actually."

"A professional? Like, you play go for a living?"

"Mhmm," he said, holding open the door to the bookstore. "That's my job. I study go, play go with other professionals, and teach go to amateurs."

"That's really interesting! I didn't know you could make a living from a board game."

The man chuckled a little awkwardly. "Well, there certainly aren't a lot of us, but we try our best to get more people into the game."

"I see."

"So, do you play? I assume you do, seeing you know what _kifu_ are."

Hikaru felt a flush creeping up her neck.

"Uh…well…I mean…I guess?" she stammered. Technically, she, Shindou Hikaru, had never played, but seeing as she would be indulging Sai from now on...

"My uh… _friend_ …is really into it. I play with him," she finally settled on a diplomatic response.

They had reached the shelf with all the _Kifu,_ and the young man scanned the shelves to find the two ruined volumes.

Hikaru stood beside him and browsed the go section, reading the titles, which mostly consisted of player names that meant nothing to her. Eventually, her eyes settled on an orange volume called "A Comprehensive Guide to the Game of Go."

 _"Huh,"_ she said to Sai as she pulled it from the shelf. " _I should get this, don't you think? Could be useful."_

 _"Oh, Hikaru,"_ beamed Sai, _"Are you really going to learn go? I'm so happy!"_

Hikaru chuckled under her breath. _"I just don't want to get bored if I have to put stones down for you."_

The young man had finally found his two _kifu_ , and the two made their way to the checkout line.

"Oh, are you just starting to learn then?" he said, pointing at her book selection. "This books is pretty thorough, but kind of dense."

"Thorough is good. My friend is pretty good, so I'd better get serious about catching up." She avoided his question.

"Well, if you're interested, a _senpai_ of mine teaches a community go class pretty close to here. I can write down his name and the address for you if you'd like."

"Sure, that could be useful. Thanks!" Hikaru smiled brightly, then stuck her hand out. "My name's Shindou Hikaru, by the way. Nice to meet you."

For a second, Isumi stared at her hand, then looked to her face, a little flustered at how outgoing she was.

"Oh! Yes, of course. Nice to meet you! I'm Isumi. Isumi Shinichirou."

They reached the counter, and Hikaru opened her wallet to pay for the three books while Isumi produced a crumpled old receipt from his pocket and wrote down the address of the go class using the cashier's pen.

"Here you go, Shindou-san," he said, handing the receipt to her. "I hope you continue playing go."

"Thanks! Again, I'm so sorry about knocking you over, but I'm really glad I met you, Isumi-san." Isumi felt the tips of his ears burn, and hoped she didn't notice.

"Oh, don't worry about it, really."

"That's very nice of you. Well, bye then, Isumi-san!"

As he waved back at the small high school girl, Isumi couldn't help but feel strange about the whole episode. Objectively, it had been pretty unfortunate, and he did now have to buy six new drinks before heading to Waya's, but somehow he was sort of glad he'd met her. She was very nice and sweet, and he was always excited about new players picking up the game. And so, despite the mishap of the day, Isumi found himself in a great mood as he headed into the nearest McDonald's to buy more drinks.

* * *

After another fifteen minutes of wandering, Hikaru finally managed to find the go salon she'd been looking for. She made her way over with Sai in tow, the whole time wanting to kick herself for not asking Isumi-san where it was.

 _"Why am I such a ditz sometimes?"_ she griped to Sai as they entered the building _. "He definitely would have known where this place was, and we would have been here ages ago."_

" _Ah, but we're here now, Hikaru! I'm so excited! I'm so exci—wait, what is this box we've walked—WOOOAHH!_ " It seemed that, though Hikaru had thoroughly explained the concept of cars to Sai, she had neglected to warn the ancient ghost about elevators.

They got off on the third floor, and Hikaru headed for the reception counter while Sai glanced back at the moving box with cautious curiosity.

"Hello and welcome! Are you here to play go?" The brunette at the counter wore a pink sweater and blue headband, and smiled warmly at the high school student.

"Hi! Yeah, I am. I've never been to a go salon before, though."

"Oh, that's no problem. Here," headband girl handed Hikaru a clipboard, "please write your name and your skill level here, and we'll get you checked in."

Hikaru filled in her name, then paused over the skill level blank.

"Um, I'm not sure what to write for skill level. I haven't…well, I've never really tested myself.

"It's alright," headband girl said, "You can just leave it blank for now." Hikaru returned the clipboard, and she typed a few things into her computer.

"So, for students, that'll be 500 yen please." Hikaru sighed. She hadn't even played a game yet, and already this go hobby was shaping up to be expensive.

" _Oh Hikaru, but why are you sighing? I don't really understand how this new money works, but you seem to have a lot of those paper notes in your wallet."_

 _"Sai…I don't even know where to start on this one. These notes may seem like a lot, but they're only 100 yen each."_ Sometimes, on free weekends, Hikaru liked to head to the square outside Shinguku station with her little Celtic harp and busk, playing renditions of pop songs on her harp. As a result, her wallet was always filled with 100 yen notes and small coins.

 _"100! That sounds pretty big to me, Hikaru!"_

 _"Well, for comparison, those three books back there cost me a total of 3,500 yen, and two of the kifu were half price, too."_

 _"What?! Oh my, Hikaru, how astronomical! How can people still live normally in such a society? Your modern world sure is strange."_

Hikaru shook her head and paid the entrance fee in singles.

"Thank you very much," said headband girl. "I take it you're a beginner then? Follow me, and we'll see if I can find you someone to play."

Hikaru wondered if she should correct her, but thought better of it. She didn't want to keep scrambling to come up with explanations.

They made a lap around the entire salon, and Hikaru was pleasantly surprised at how nice the place was. It had ambient lighting, was clean, and no one smoked. It wasn't at all how she'd imagined a salon to be.

"I'm sorry, it seems that everyone here is already playing a game," headband girl apologized after they came back to the front. "Why don't you have a seat here, and when someone comes in, I'll see if they're up for a game?"

"Oh…" Hikaru frowned. She hadn't expected finding an opponent to be this difficult. "Well...alright then."

"Great. I'll bring you something to drink."

Hikaru settled into the plush seat on the side of the black stones, and retrieved her new book from her backpack.

 _"I guess we can continue our lesson from before, huh Sai?"_

 _"Yes, and I'm sure that book will be very useful."_

 _"Alrighty, then. Let's see if the book can actually make real and fake eyes make sense."_

 _"But Hikaru! I did my best! We didn't even have a board in front of us!"_

A half hour passed, and Hikaru felt her brain swimming. Why was there so much to learn about a game that seemed so simple? And if she had thought the book would supplement Sai's instruction, she was sorely mistaken. What Sai deemed introductory and what the book did were vastly different, and Sai was not helping by constantly adding remarks to the book's explanations, confusing her further. In fact, it seemed Sai had learned more from the book than she had. In particular, he was very interested in the _komi_ , making Hikaru stay on the same page, rereading it over and over.

 _"I don't know why you're so hung up on this new rule,"_ Hikaru sighed _. "It makes sense that black should make up for the advantage of going first, right? Haven't you ever felt that black always had the upper hand?'_

 _"Well…in fact, no. I don't think I've ever lost with white."_

 _"Wh—oh. Well. Okay then, never mind."_

 _"Say, Hikaru? Why don't you try holding and putting the stone down with the proper_ tetsuki

 _"What? You're saying there's a "proper way" to put stones down?"_ This game had so many traditions and so many rules.

" _Of course! Hikaru, don't tell me there aren't proper ways to position your fingers on the harp!"_

 _"Well, I suppose, to a certain extent,"_ Hikaru mused, _"but it's not really because of tradition. It's more because of ease."_

" _The same with_ tetsuki _, I assure you. It's the easiest way to place stones down without disturbing the others already on the board. Go ahead. Trap the stone between your third finger and the nail of your second. Good, now release it on the board."_

Hikaru did as she was instructed. It felt a bit strange, but nothing too difficult. She practiced with a couple more moves, and Sai was delighted with how quickly she picked it up.

 _"Hikaru, you're a natural! I've never seen a beginner hold the stones so easily!"_

 _"It must be all the music training, to be honest."_

Hikaru had long, slender fingers, but more importantly they were nimble and strong. Musician's hands. Plus, she had excellent muscle memory. A simple move to pick up stones was no big deal at all.

They continued their lesson, Hikaru's mind threatening to haze over more and more with each passing minute, when suddenly, she felt a pair of eyes on her. With a slight furrow of her brow, she looked up from the board. There, at the door, was a handsome—no, _beautiful_ —teenaged boy, wearing a high school uniform, staring at her with his clear, sea foam eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: This story is a work in progress, and as such I have had to fix a plot hole in Chapter 2. It's in the scene with Isumi, if you'd like to go back and reread? I hope it's okay and everything for me to go back and edit previous chapters as I'm writing. I'll try harder to keep my plotlines tidy and coherent from now on, but I can't promise this sort of thing won't happen in the future. I'll write a note if anything besides grammar and formatting is changed in already-published chapters.

Edit: It's taken me entirely too much research, but I think I've found the best ways for the characters to use honorifics on each other. I've had to change a couple of honorifics in this chapter as a result.

* * *

Chapter 3: In which a scandalized Sai finally gets to play go…

Touya Akira 4-dan was having a terrible day. It seemed that lately, every time his parents went away, he was bound to experience a day or two of horrendous luck. Their flight had been on Tuesday. Wednesday was destined for misfortune.

That morning he had somehow ignored his alarm, and so his entire morning routine was disturbed and compressed. As a result, he had completely forgotten to bring his binder of homework assignments, and only realized this as his first period history teacher stood before his desk, waiting for his finished essay. Akira could not remember the last time he had been this mortified. What was wrong with him? In all his years of school, he had never once handed in an assignment late, and now he would spend the entire morning apologizing for late assignments.

The day did not get any better at lunchtime, when, in line to use the microwave for the top half of his bento, he realized that in his rush he had not grabbed the lunchbox packed with last night's leftover dinner. No, he had instead grabbed the container of his mother's beloved _gari_ from the fridge. For a second, his brain couldn't register the fact that he was staring at a container full of pink pickled ginger instead of his lunch.

Akira _hated_ picked ginger. He even preferred not to eat anything that pickled ginger had touched and tinted pink. And so, Akira was left to eat the container of rice he had packed that morning. Plain, white, unseasoned rice, because in his rush, he had not even sprinkled seasoning, reasoning that the sauce on the chicken from last night was salty enough. So much for that.

Then, after lunch, as he sat in an empty study room making up a composition he had missed, both of his pens helpfully ran out of ink. It would have been alright any other day, because he always kept spare pens in his homework binder, but today…

Given no choice, Akira was been forced to interrupt the art class going on in his usual classroom, hurry in to his desk, and find a spare pen, apologizing profusely the whole time.

It was therefore with relief that he finally left school before last period to make the O _teai_ game that afternoon. It was against a lower ranked pro named Wazune, and though Akira never liked to underestimate his opponents, he had to admit that this particular player's _kifu_ suggested a slow and frankly dull playing style.

But no matter. That would have been fine. Any go match was usually enough to raise Akira's spirits, even a little. Unfortunately, this match was not meant to be. His opponent did not show up. Forty-five minutes after the official start time, he was informed that this Wazune had come down with very serious food poisoning, and would not be coming. Akira left in an even worse mood than before.

Walking the familiar route from the Go Association to the train station, Akira considered his options. He could go home now and start on his homework. He had a couple of small assignments and a test to study for, and if he got everything done quickly, he could spend the rest of the evening studying _kifu_ without worrying about time. On the other hand, Harada-san would still be cleaning the house and making his dinner, and Akira always felt self-consciously disruptive to her work when he and the housekeeper were at home at the same time.

No, he would go to the go salon instead. He always liked hanging out there, especially recently, with his parents away so much. The house was…too silent with them gone. Besides, Akira enjoyed the go salon's low murmur of voices and clicks of stones on the go board. He didn't even mind the questions from old patrons. Some of the old men had quirky mannerism, and interacting with them could actually be amusing.

Akira stepped out of the elevator on the third floor without really seeing his surroundings. It was all so familiar that he could probably get from the train station to the salon with his eyes closed, and at the moment he was focusing on a run-through of his latest Honinbo primaries game. He had almost lost the game by falling into a two-layered trap, but managed to scrape back some territory at the beginning of _yose_ and win by 1.5 _moku_. It had been entirely too close for comfort, however, and Akira kept replaying the second half, trying to find a way to win with more leeway.

Immersed in his thoughts, Akira smiled absently at Ichiwara-san and turned to go inside. Suddenly, his eyes caught something. He froze. There, inside the salon, siting directly facing the door, was a girl. She did not look real.

Akira stared.

There were gold highlights in the hair that fell beside her ears, framing her face like a halo in the low light. An aura of serenity emanated from her every move each time she placed a stone on the go board. She was like a painting.

The girl felt his gaze on her. She looked up. Her twinkling green eyes knocked into his, and suddenly she was overflowing with playful exuberance. Even from across the room, her eyes promised endless possibilities. Endless spirit.

He was going to sink into her eyes.

Akira continued to stare.

* * *

Hikaru stared at the beautiful boy until she remembered that it was rude to stare. Then she remembered that she'd been waiting for ages for someone to walk through the door, and now, here he was! A person! At last! She was going to start oxidizing if someone didn't show up soon.

 _"Sai! Look! Someone's here! We'll finally get our game."_

Leaping out of her seat, Hikaru nearly skipped to the boy standing by the counter.

"You're here to play go, right?" she asked, a huge smile on her face.

The boy blinked a few times at her question, as if her voice had startled him.

"Oh…well…I suppose…"

 _"Hikaru! Really, that was very rude. You should at least introduce yourself."_

 _"Right, of course. Manners. Always gotta remind myself."_

"Hi," Hikaru said, sticking out her hand. "My name's Shindou Hikaru. It's so nice to meet you. You don't know how long I was waiting for someone to play a game with me!"

"Um…hello." The boy managed to compose himself. He took her hand and shook it firmly."My name is Touya Akira. Pleased to meet you."

"Great! Touya-san, let's go, I have a table back—"

"Oh, but Shindou-san, Akira-kun is…" headband girl, who had been watching their exchange, suddenly cut in. Hikaru and Akira both turned to her, but before headband girl could say anything else, the boy gave her a wide smile.

"Not to worry, Ichikawa-san. I did come here to play, after all."

Then, to Hikaru, "Please, Shindou-san, lead the way."

The two sat, Hikaru in her original seat, Akira with his back facing the door.

"So Touya-san, you're in high school, right?" As fast as she could, Hikaru was sweeping up the stones on the board.

"Yes I am," Akira replied, helping her separate the white stones from the black. "I just started the tenth grade."

"Really? Same!" Hikaru beamed, her eyes squinting into crescents. "What a coincidence. I'm so glad I met you, Touya-kun! Uh…I mean, you know, because you seem much more interesting than the old uncles here."

Ears turning pink, Akira looked up at her and was instantly warmed by her very sweet smile. He returned it, then shrugged.

"It seems there are very few people our age who come to go salons."

"Really? What a shame."

"Yes, I'm afraid it is." Akira slipped his white stones into the right _goke,_ and Hikaru did the same for black. From the side of his eye, Akira caught a glimpse of the book Hikaru had been using.

Meanwhile, as the two teenagers cleared the board, Sai, for the second time today, was gaping at Hikaru, utterly scandalized.

 _"Sai, I can feel you judging me. Relaaaaax, man! It's not like I'm causing any harm."_

From the boy's red ears, Sai would beg to differ _. "But…b-b-but…Hikaru! How could—you—him—the impropriety…"_

 _"C'mon, Sai! I'm going to put down stones for you for who knows how long. At least let me have some fun first."_

This time Sai could only sputter.

 _"Fine, but Hikaru, it would be very wrong of you to try and seduce him during the game."_

It was Hikaru's turn to sputter.

 _"First of all, no one is seducing anyone here. I'm just flirting. And second, I would never! Go is serious, I know that. Don't you worry."_

"So, Shindou-san," Akira began, still smiling. "Would you like to put any stones down?"

"What?" Hikaru snapped back to attention. "Oh, no, there's no need for a handicap."

Akira paused. "Are you sure?"

"Of course. Wouldn't want you saying I won because you went easy on me," Hikaru smirked.

"I—that's not what I…" Akira didn't even know how to react. Everything about this girl made him flustered. "I mean I just…I saw your book." He pointed with his chin.

"Oh, that," Hikaru waved her hand. "Um…I haven't played in a long time. I just needed a refresher is all"

"I see," Akira nodded, still a little skeptical. "Do you know your skill level, then?"

"Why don't we _nigiri_ , and you can find out, hm?"

Akira could feel his ears burning again, and this time the flush may also have been creeping up his neck.

"Right. Of course." He grabbed a handful of white stones as she placed two black stones on the board.

"Two…four…six…eight," they counted together.

"I guess I'm keeping black then," Hikaru said, returning her stones.

Hikaru settled into her seat. Her first go match. Even if she wasn't the one playing, and even though she knew next to nothing about it, somehow what little she had learned today gave her a tiny thrill at the prospect of a real game.

" _So, Sai. Are you ready? 140 years…It's been a long wait, hasn't it?"_

Sai's answer was distant, but laced with a ferocity that sent shivers down Hikaru's spine.

" _Yes, Hikaru. Yes it has."_

"Your guidance, please," Akira bowed.

"Oh…yes. Your guidance, please."

" _Your guidance, please,"_ said Sai, and she felt him take a deep, trembling breath from behind her seat. _"Alright, Hikaru. Let's begin. 17-4. The komuku in the top right."_

 _"Komuku…the 3-4 point here."_ With the technique she'd just learned, Hikaru picked up a stone between her fingers and placed it down with a soft _click_.

Akira watched as the girl placed her first stone. Up close, she was even tinier than he'd originally thought. Her face, in particular, was porcelain and small against her thick mane of dark and blonde hair. _Wow, she really does look like a doll._

Her fingers were long and slender, and she put down the stone with an easy grace. Still, there was something odd about the way she played. He couldn't quite define it.

He played the _komuku_ at 4-3.

 _"16-17."_

 _"16-17…ah, another komuku, right?"_

 _"Yes it is."_

Akira played a knight's approach at 15-3.

 _"3-16." Click._

Akira countered. 17-15.

 _"16-5. Kosume."_

 _Kosume here?_ Akira's eyes flicked up at Hikaru's face, hand freezing for a moment in the _goke_ before making his next move.

As the game carried on, Akira kept sneaking glances up at his opponent, studying her as she concentrated on the board. The calm composure he had seen before was back. Her expressionwas soft but her features were completely peaceful and still. Soon, he realized what had been odd about her movements. Normally, players thought through their move, picked up a stone, and placed it. Hikaru, on the other hand, always seemed to hover, stone already in hand, before making her move. As if she knew where to go, but had to search for the spot.

Akira added this strangeness to his growing list of questions. She was better than he had expected from her offhand attitude. Indeed, the more hands they exchanged, the more he could see her strength. Every move he played was countered by a perfect response, and more than once he felt his own attacks being turned against him, forcing him into a defensive move. She was very good.

 _But being this skilled, doesn't she realize how strange it was to use those old joseki? Shusaku's opening? I've never played any game where black opened like that._ Akira took another look at her face. Just as still and peaceful as before. He couldn't read a thing.

Strangely, she wasn't attacking aggressively at all. Akira placed another stone, leaving a side vulnerable, hoping to bait black into attacking further. Black strengthened the other side with an _atari i_ nstead. Akira frowned.

 _"Sai, what's going on with him?"_ Hikaru asked, noticing her opponent's frown _. "Is he worried about that black stone?_

 _"No, I believe he was perplexed I didn't spring his little trap."_ Hikaru did not see any trap. She sighed to herself. Sai had better explain everything to her later on.

" _Now then, it seems he's trying hard to provoke a little aggression from me,"_ Sai smiled behind his fan. " _I'd be happy to oblige. 19-16, Hikaru."_

She placed the stone. Akira took in a small, audible breath.

" _Is that what you're doing now, Sai? Attacking?"_

 _"A little."_

They exchanged more hands.

" _12-11."_

 _"Oh, I can take that middle stone, right?"_

 _"That's right."_

 _"He took one of yours too! Is that alright?"_

 _"All in good time. 18-14."_

Hikaru took her second prisoner, and glanced up at Akira just in time to see him close his eyes, lips pressed into a line.

" _What's up with him now?"_

 _"Those nine white stones have all died. They'll be your prisoners at the end of the game."_

 _"Woah! That's brutal! There's no way he can come back from that, right?"_

 _"Not necessarily. He is a worthy opponent. We didn't take those stones. He sacrificed them. Have a look at the whole board, Hikaru."_

 _"Huh. It looks like white has a lot of stones around the center."_

Akira's gaze flickered between the board and his opponent's face. She seemed to be surveying, taking stock of the present configuration as he was.

Losing the nine stones at the left was not ideal, but he still controlled the center. He could still turn things around. He would just have to turn up the aggression.

He looked at her, wondering if she saw his advantage, wondering what she was planning next. This girl was full of mysteries. He had no idea what she would do. All she showed him was calm.

 _I just want to keep looking at her,_ a voice in his head broke in. This strange thought surprised him. He blinked quickly and placed his next stone.

How very unlike him. This whole situation was very unlike him.

 _Focus,_ he scolded himself. _What are you staring at your opponent for? You know she's not giving anything away. Focus on the board._

Another exchange. Then another. Akira was still trying to focus his mind when—

 _Click._ The black stone landed softly on 8-5.

"Uh!" A choke of surprise escaped his throat. _This…this move…_

It was not the smartest move. Nor was it the most aggressive move. No, this move was played to test how he'd respond. _She's trying to work out just how strong I am!_

At once, Akira's pupils constricted, eyes narrowing as the stone burned into his vision. Scrambling, his gaze swept over the board, replaying every move, looking for answers. He had only ever felt this way when he played his father. His opponent hadn't unleashed all his power on him at once. She'd only attacked in response to Akira's attacks, only pulled out another weapon from the arsenal when Akira did. Yes, it was definitely like playing his father, who never went easy on him, but only attacked to stay just a small step ahead.

 _Why hadn't I seen it before? How could I have underestimated her? All the times she could have attacked…when she could have wiped me out…_

 _Has she been testing me the whole time?_

* * *

 _"Geez, look at his face! What did you to him this time, Sai?"_

 _"I simply…showed him what he was missing."_

 _"What's that supposed to mean?"_

 _"He's been going easy on you because I haven't been showing strength. Now I'm giving him a hint."_

 _Smack._ The sharp sound of stone hitting wood pierced the air. Hikaru's raised her eyebrows just a touch. She looked down at his new stone, then at his face again. His brows were furrowed, and there was an intensity in his eyes as he stared at the board, as if about to burn right through it.

" _Sai_ ," Hikaru whispered, " _I think he got your hint."_

 _"Yes, I believe he did. This game is just starting to get interesting."_

They returned to their rhythm of play, Hikaru placing Sai's moves with soft clicks, expression unmoving, composed as ever. Akira, on the other hand, could feel cold sweat prickling on his back. Every step black made was precisely calculated, yet each one was more biting than the last. It was as if each step was played to remind him of how much he had misread his opponent.

Soon, the entire right board belonged to Shindou, not to mention the bottom right corner and half of the left side. Akira paused, regrouping his thoughts to formulate a new plan. If he attacked the sparse groupings near the bottom left, he could probably take over most of that corner with a few casualties. That would leave time for black's shape in the upper board to invade the center, however, and he couldn't afford to lose more territory. He gritted his teeth.

 _What do I do?_

Suddenly, a loud squawk broke through the silence, and Akira's head snapped up at the intrusion.

Hikaru gasped and shot out of her chair. Her elbow disturbed the stones at the bottom of the board. _Goddammit it's my freaking phone!_

"Sorry!" she yelped, scrambling for the side pocket of her backpack for her phone. She whipped it out in triumph, flipped it open, and nearly smacked herself in the head putting it up to her ear.

" _Moshi moshi,_ Suzuki-sensei! I wasn't expecting your call!" By now Hikaru had dashed to the reception area and huddled into the corner next to the plant, trying not to make eye contact with Ichiwara-san."

 _"—You sound like you're running for your life! What's wrong with you, girl, can't you keep your voice normal? Do you hear yourself? Not ladylike at all!"_

"Yes, Sensei. Sorry, sorry!" Hikaru was bowing into the phone now, trying to take deep breaths. "I was just in the middle of something and not expecting your call. Sorry!"

 _"—Well, listen,"_ Suzuki-sensei said, her voice barely audible over the traffic of the streets in the background, _"I've got a few things to pick up at a shrine in Yanaka, so I'm coming by your house in about an hour."_

"What?! But Sensei, I—"

 _"—Don't worry, girl, you're not in trouble or anything. I'm not there to tattle to your mother. I just changed my mind about some of the notes I made in your music today, so I wanted to walk through the new ones with you."_

"Right, Sensei, of course, but I'm not—"

 _"—Alright then, I'm about to enter the shrine, so I'll see you in an hour. And don't let me find your harp out of tune when I get there! I know you! Too lazy to tune it when you're just practicing finger exercises, but I'm telling you, it'll ruin your ear one day! Do you hear me, girl?"_

"Ah, yes, Sensei, but—"

" _—Bye now, bye now."_ Suzuki-sensei hung up the phone.

"Uh…" Hikaru blinked at her monochrome screen, for a few seconds unable to process the phone conversation.

" _Hikaru?"_ Sai floated beside her, fan on chin, curious.

Hikaru looked up at him, still bemused. _"Sorry, Sai, but I think I really need to go home. Like, now."_

She didn't wait to see his face fall, but marched back inside to where Akira was sitting. He turned in his chair at her footsteps, and looked at her with a mixture of curiosity and concern.

"Is everything alright, Shindou-san?"

"Sorry about that, Touya-kun," Hikaru tried for an apologetic smile, but it ended up looking more like a grimace. "It looks like I'll need to go. I really have to get home. Sorry we couldn't finish our game."

Akira's eyebrows shot up, and he took a moment to answer.

"I see," he finally said, looking down at his hands. "That's…really a shame."

"I had a lot of fun though!" she added, returning her phone to her backpack. Then, looking over at Sai's nodding form, she smiled at him. "And you're really very good. It was an exciting game."

Akira suddenly looked up, and for a second the intensity of his gaze burned into her and made her take a step back.

"Shindou-san! You...I've never met...anyone like you...I mean... You're incredibly talented…and incredibly strong…uh…but I guess you must know that…"

It was Hikaru's turn to raise her eyebrows. She felt her cheeks flushing at the compliment, and even more with the knowledge that it wasn't even a compliment for her.

"Oh! Well, that's very kind of you. Like I said, you're really talented, too!" She picked up her backpack, then set it back down. "Here, let me clean up before I leave."

"No! I mean, that's not necessary, thank you. I'd like to have a look at this game."

"Yeah? You sure?"

"Yes," he almost whispered, looking at the board again.

"Okay, well, it was nice meeting you, Touya-kun. Thanks for the game!" Hikaru swung her back over her shoulder and headed towards the door. As she walked past him, she put a hand on his shoulder and smiled her sweet, crescent-eyed smile when he looked up.

"I'll see you around!"

Akira stared after her, her shock of dark and blonde hair bouncing around her shoulders and back as she slipped out the salon, into the elevator, and disappeared behind the closing doors.

* * *

Akira wanted to kick himself. It was a good five minutes after Shindou Hikaru disappeared into the elevator before Akira realized that he had no way of seeing her again. All he knew was that she was in the tenth grade. He didn't even know where she went to school.

Then, he remembered that she must have signed in. Abruptly, he stood up and approached the reception desk. Ichiwara-san was sorting through some paperwork behind the desk.

"Oh, Akira-kun," she looked up. "Done already, huh? I thought I saw the Shindou girl running out just now."

"Yes," Akira nodded. "She had to go, but we didn't get to finish the game."

"I see. You know, you're really too nice, Akira-kun. You can't go around giving free teaching games to every beginner who walks in here, you know?"

'Oh, I don't mi—wait, what did you mean, Ichiwara-san?"

She looked as confused as he did. "That girl just now, of course. I just assumed she was a beginner. Look, she didn't even know what skill level to write for herself. See?"

"Didn't know what skill level she was…"

Ichiwara-san pulled the clipboard out from behind the computer and handed it to him.

Eagerly, Akira took it out of her hand, but glancing down, he only saw the columns for name and skill level. He stared, uncomprehending, at Shindou's neatly-written name.

"Why don't these sheets list the phone number?" he nearly cried.

Ichiwara-san turned her head, surprised at the outburst.

"Akira-kun, have you forgotten? We stopped asking for customer phone numbers a year ago! It was too much of a hassle to make a computer profile for every new customer, because a lot of them don't come often at all, so now we only ask for phone number when they register and become a regular. The system is much neater this way!"

"You…don't ask for phone numbers anymore…" Akira looked blankly at Ichiwara-san, then down at Shindou's name and the blank space under skill , this really was all the information he knew about her? Just a name and an age? How on earth was he going to find her in a place like Tokyo?

He realized he desperately wanted to find her, and desperately wanted to finish their game. In fact, he found that he wanted to see her even more than he wanted to make it into the Honinbo League again. It wasn't just that she was the strongest teenager Akira had ever played. He may have been fairly unrivaled in their Japanese age group, but Akira knew enough about the world of Go outside Japan. He'd heard stories about the nearly impossible strength of some Chinese _insei_. He'd seen a few _kifu_ of games between teenage Korean professionals. He knew that there were plenty of talented players his age, and many were probably better than he was.

No, it wasn't really her strength in go. And it wasn't that she was a mysterious entity whose skill lever in no way matched her attitude. It wasn't even the way her game had felt to him. _Like she was testing me,_ he frowned again. Sure, that was all very interesting, but more than anything else Akira just wanted to _see_ her again. To be in her presence. When they spoke, when she smiled, she made Akira feel excited in a way very different from the intense anticipation he always felt before important matches. This was a general, playful excitement, as if the world was full of endless possibilities for fun.

 _Fun._ That was something Akira had not felt in a long time. Perhaps, when he was young, playing go had been fun. Exciting in a cheerful way. But now, _fun_ was hardly the world he would use. It was too important to be called fun. His feelings towards it were far too vehement. Akira _needed_ to play go, just like he needed to breathe or sleep. And when he played a tough opponent and won, or when he broke through a hard line of defense, he felt pride, and exhilaration, and perhaps even an intense thrill, but probably not what one might call happiness.

For a long time that afternoon, Akira stared at the unfinished game, imagining Shindou replaying every move. Then he stared some more, not seeing, trying to figure out how he would see her again.

* * *

A/N: I hope this was somewhat entertaining and not too technical/go-heavy. I feel like I have that particular Shusaku game memorized from writing it. Anyway, in terms of sticking to canon, I think I like the canon timeline of Hikaru's and Akira's first two games, but after that I'll be deviating quite a lot like I do with the other characters in Hikaru's life. That's the plan, anyway, but nothing's set in stone.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I hope this chapter doesn't feel like too much of a filler. I promise some very interesting things will happen in the next few chapters. I also hope there aren't too many grammar/formatting issues in this. I haven't had time to edit, but my laptop is dying and I wanted to share. Thanks for reading, and please let me know if there's anything you'd really like to see, because my storyline is flexible!

Chapter 4: In which Hikaru makes new friends…

 _"Sorry we had to cut that short, Sai."_

Hikaru was pressed against the side of a row of subway chairs, holding her backpack in front of her to create a little distance between herself and the ocean of other rush-hour passengers. Sai, to avoid the trauma of having countless people passing through his body, had floated to the top of the car and was sitting in _seiza_ in the air above Hikaru's head.

 _"It's alright, Hikaru. I'm very happy I got to play that boy, even though we could not finish our battle."_

 _"Was he any good? He seemed really intense towards the end there."_

 _"He was very good, especially for someone so young. Yes…very, very talented indeed. He has a natural feel for the game. His plans of attack and analysis of the whole board were already very mature."_

 _"Woah, that good, huh?"_

 _"He still has a long road ahead of him, but I can already see his dragon claws beginning to show. He will be quite formidable one day."_

 _"How good is he compared to you? Would you have won that game if we'd finished?"_

 _"I am fairly certain I could have won, but I would not have played with all my strength if we had stayed. Perhaps I would have won by three or four_ moku _without_ komi."

Sai seemed to say this more to himself than to Hikaru.

 _"What? So you weren't playing to win, even after he got serious?"_

 _"No, I was playing a teaching game."_

 _"A teaching game?"_

 _"It is as it sounds. You play a teaching game with the objective not of winning, but of guiding your student to place their stones in the right place. It is a very powerful way to help another advance their playing."_

 _"Huh. Sounds like you're pretty used to teaching."_

 _"Yes. When I was alive, I spent most of my days at the emperor's court playing teaching games with His Majesty. And with Torajiro, I often taught the Shogun and his court as well."_

 _"I guess Touya didn't realize until halfway through that you were playing a teaching game."_

 _"No. In fact, I believe he started out planning to play a teaching game with you."_

Hikaru rolled her eyes. Of course he did, but it wasn't like she could blame him. After all, she didn't act like she would be a very fierce opponent. Not to mention, _she_ _herself_ actually had no idea how to play go. Nonetheless, it still piqued Hikaru that Touya hadn't taken her very seriously from the start.

 _"Ah. Well. Maybe you'll get to play him again if we go back. That salon's a bit far from my house, though. I wonder if there's somewhere nearer to home."_

 _"Oh, Hikaru, let's go anywhere you want! I don't care where I am, as long as I can play go!"_

 _"Yes, Sai, I know, I know,"_ Hikaru smiled indulgingly. _"That was a lot of work, but I think I had fun. As long as you teach me enough so I don't get bored, I'll take you to play go all the time."_

 _"Really? Hikaru, you're the best! Thank you! Thank you!"_

 _"Sai, please! Your ghost aura is really too much for me handle!"_

 _"Oh, goodness! My apologies."_

* * *

Emerging from the subway station in Yanaka, Hikaru half sprinted to her house. She had twenty minutes before Suzuki-sensei was supposed to show up, and, just as her teacher had predicted, Hikaru had not tuned her harp.

"I'm home!" she announced as she burst through her front door. She scanned the shoes in the entryway, and let out a relieved breath when she didn't see anything unfamiliar.

No one replied to her announcement. Her mother probably had a performance with the orchestra tonight, and her father was either there with her or kept late at his dentist's practice.

Hikaru pounded up the stairs to her room and dropped her backpack by her desk. From her bookshelf, she retrieved her tuner, which resembled a short and lopsided letter T, and a little monitor with a cord that attached to a black clip. At the harp, she clipped the clip to one of the metal pegs that jutted out from the left, and put the tuner onto the corresponding peg that jutted from the right. Repeatedly, she played the string that the peg controlled, twisting the tuner with each pluck, keeping an eye on the monitor. When she was satisfied, she moved down the harp, tuning each string.

Sai watched this whole process with some fascination.

 _"Hikaru, what are you doing? What is this device? How does it know if a string is tuned properly? Hikaru?"_

Hikaru rolled her eyes, chuckled, then explained the whole tuning process. It wasn't very complicated, after all, and besides, Sai had been brought up in a nobleman's family and knew the basics of the _koto_. The principle was the same.

The tuning had taken Hikaru longer than usual, as the rising spring humidity caused her harp to be perpetually out of tune. By the time she was done, Hikaru was expecting Suzuki-sensei at any moment.

 _"Oh, Sai, I nearly forgot,"_ Hikaru exclaimed, popping out of her stool to dig in her bag. She extracted the two coke-stained _kifu_ from earlier, still damp, contained in the shopping bag from the bookstore.

 _"I'm sure some of these are still salvageable, and I'll hang them around the room so you can read them while Sensei is here. And at night, too. You don't ever sleep, right?"_

 _"That's very thoughtful of you, Hikaru. And I suppose I cannot sleep, although I do tend to silence mind at night. I've found it provides effects similar to sleep."_

Sai floated around Hikaru as she cut out the _kifu_ pages with unstained games and taped them up in order. By the time the doorbell rang, she had covered her whole sliding closet door.

"Ah, there you are, girl," said a brisk Suzuki-sensei as Hikaru opened the front door. Her teacher hurried past her into the entryway and removed her black leather oxfords. She was a short, stout woman with mostly-grey hair cut into a very short bob. Her spectacles were bright red ovals that slanted up like cat eyes. Today she wore a black cardigan over a white, round-collared blouse and a long skirt resembling a patchwork quit.

"Took you long enough. I suppose you're home alone? Such a shame, such a shame. I don't see nearly enough of your mother and her pretty face since she stopped accompanying you to lessons. Oh, well, I suppose you growing up can't be helped. I hope you're not giving her too much trouble these days, eh?"

Suzuki-sensei had known the piano teacher of Hikaru's mother, which was also how Hikaru had come into the harp teacher's tutelage at a young age.

Hikaru could only laugh, a nervous lift in her eyebrows.

"I hope I'm not too much trouble, either," she offered. She showed Suzuki-sensei to the stairs, then hurried to the kitchen to dispense some hot water into a cup with _genmaicha_. As she slid the door of her room open, carrying the tea, Hikaru saw that Suzuki-sensei was standing in front of her closet, staring, quite intrigued, at her wall of _kifu_. Sai was staring at the teacher's outfit, his face perplexed.

 _"Sensory overload, Sai?"_

"Hikaru-chan, what are these things on your door? Looks like quite the mess, all taped up like this."

"Oh, those are _kifu,_ Sensei. They're records of previous go games."

"Huh, go you say? Yes, I see, I see…I did learn a little bit about the rules when I was younger. Who knew you young people still played this sort old-people's game? My husband has friends who go to go salons every day! Say, girl, when did you start learning this? And why are all these pages on your door? Looks like you cut them from a book or something. You mustn't do that to books, you know that!"

"Uh…" As usual, Hikaru was at a loss for which question to respond to first. And, as usual, she needn't have worried, because she didn't get a chance to answer any of them.

"Well, I'm glad to see you're branching out, girl, but really, you couldn't have found a more age-appropriate hobby? Well, at least you can't hurt yourself playing a board game. You know what Takeda-san at the music college told me? One of her viola students went skating with her friends and fell and sprained her fingers! What a disaster! At least it was her bow hand, so finger dexterity shouldn't be too much of a problem, but honestly! My goodness, Kami-sama have mercy! Young people are so careless. And you too! Fainting and falling the way you did yesterday!"

"Right. Sorry again, Sensei." Hikaru nearly did a ninety degree bow.

"Alright, alright, go sit down. I can't stay long, you know. The old man gets grumpy when I'm late for dinner. Hrmph! As if he ever cooks a five-star meal…"

Hikaru sat down at the harp amid Suzuki-sensei's ramblings on. Eventually, the harp professor pulled the new notes out of her bag, and had Hikaru play through the pieces to make sure she understood them.

Her parents had still not returned by the time Suzuki-sensei left, but because of her fainting spell the night before, her mom had not made dinner at home. There weren't even leftovers to heat up. Hikaru sighed, and pulled a packed of _udon_ noodles from the fridge. She put them into boiling water along with some _shoyu_ soup base and spinach, then cut in a couple slices of pork from the freezer.

"Let's see…what else can I put in here…" Hikaru had opened up the dried foods cupboard, scanning her mother's collection of colorful packages. Finally, she decided on some dried mushrooms and thick sea kelp. Hikaru plucked out a few of each and threw them all into the pot, then put the lid back on.

"Hikaru, did you just put those mushrooms straight into the pot?"

"What? Yeah, I always do that," Hikaru raised her eyebrow at Sai, who was now studying her pot with concern.

"But you're supposed to soak them in water, so they get soft!"

"….What?" Hikaru felt that Sai's comment had broken her brain.

"Yes, yes, if I remember correctly, you must soak them in warm water overnight, then lightly slice the tops of the mushrooms before you use them."

"How on earth do you, a Heian nobleman, know how to prepare dried mushrooms?"

"Oh!" Sai had the audacity to look surprised at _her_ question. "Why, this was how the cook for Honinbo Shuwa prepared mushrooms. Sometimes at the Honinbo school in the early days, when Torajiro used to get hungry in the middle of the night, he would sneak into the kitchen, and the cook would give him some extra food. We always saw her preparing mushrooms, and he would help her wash them."

"That's…really sweet, Sai," Hikaru beamed. She knew next to nothing about this Torajiro, Sai's previous host, but from what Sai had told her about his life, and now this story, he seemed like a sweet boy.

"You must miss him a lot, huh Sai?"

"Yes, I do," Sai nodded, his eyes cast down, a shadow drifting across his features. "He was always such a kind, noble person, even in his youth. And always so curious and eager to better his own go ability. We spent many good days together."

Hikaru was silent as she ladled the noodles into a bowl and sat down to eat.

"Sorry you're stuck with me this time around, Sai," Hikaru finally said, staring down at her soup. She had felt the way Sai's emotions changed as he played go today. She had seen the glint of ferocity as he attacked with his black stones, and the little squint of satisfaction as he countered Touya's attacks with ease. It must have been nice when he was with Torajiro, someone who understood him, and could play go with him whenever he wanted. All she could do was put down stones and try to keep her eyes from glazing over.

"You must be pretty disappointed, huh?"

"No! Please, Hikaru, how could you think that?" Sai stood bolt upright in his chair. "Hikaru, you are different from Torajiro, but it is my very best luck to have met you. Just from today, I can see that you, too, understand me, as Torajiro did. How could Kami-sama have given me a better fate than meeting you?"

"Really, Sai? You don't have to be so nice, you know."

"I am doing no such thing. I am glad that I met you this time around. Thank you for indulging me."

 _In a way, perhaps you are most like me, Hikaru. You do not even know how to play go, and yet you will humor an old ghost by letting me play. You must truly love your music. Only one who shares my sense of calling can understand my desire to play. I only hope my presence will not be a hindrance on your life._

But Sai did not say this to Hikaru.

* * *

Hikaru spent the rest of the evening practicing. She started off with long finger exercises, then spent two hours working through Suzuki-sensei's new notes in the Renié, which she was preparing for a competition in June. Another hour was given to run-throughs of the four other pieces she was currently working on. Hikaru finished the session with a short practice of the pop arrangements for band practice tomorrow.

"These sound very different from the pieces you were playing before. Very simple," Sai remarked. Hikaru had thought he would completely ignore her practicing, but despite his engagement with the _kifu_ on her closet door, Sai seemed to be paying attention to Hikaru's playing.

"Yeah, these mainly chords," Hikaru shrugged. "They're are only fun when we're playing in a band, or someone's singing along."

Done with her practice schedule, Hikaru went to dig around her backpack for her homework. As usual, her undemanding academic schedule meant less than an hour of homework, so by the time she was done for the day it was still relatively early for a teenager to go to bed. Besides, her parents weren't even home yet.

Hikaru showered and changed, then lay against her pillows, texting her friends and having an offhanded conversation with Sai. At one point, she was motivated enough by Sai's pestering to trudge downstairs, retrieve the telephone book, and look up local go salons. To her surprise, Hikaru actually did manage to find one just one stop away from the station near her house. She wrote down the address and slipped it into her homework planner.

 _"Great, Sai! Tomorrow we can go here."_

 _"Wonderful, Hikaru, just wonderful. I'm so excited already!"_

 _"So, were these_ kifu _any fun to look at?"_ Hikaru was now cutting out the pages of the second coke-stained book and taping them to another wall.

" _Yes, they are. It seems that all these games are between highly skilled players, and I am learning their modern ways."_

 _"Fantastic."_

* * *

At lunch the next day, Hikaru and Akari wolfed down their meals in less than ten minutes and bounded for the music rooms. Well, Hikaru bounded, but stopped every few steps to wait for Akari, whose cello made it rather difficult to perform any sort of fast movement.

Three of the _senpai_ they had met in middle school had started a chamber music club the year before. They needed two other people to play with them at the club fair and concert coming up next week. This was commonly referred to as the talent show, because the highlight was always the performance, through which the music and dance clubs tried to attract new club members. For the chamber music club, this involved playing some pop songs on classical instruments.

Hikaru had originally declined to participate when Akari asked her on the _first day of school_. Who had time to participate in a talent show their first month of high school? She was busy enough as it was.

Akari, however, was nothing if not persistent. This, added on to the new knowledge that Akari had a big crush on one of the _senpai_ already in the club, had persuaded Hikaru to agree. Hikaru had never been in a club before, because she had never had any talents aside from harp. As their school did not have an orchestra, there was no club that needed a harpist. Now, Hikaru wondered if she should join. She liked the idea of being in an afterschool club. It made her feel more like a normal high school student.

This lunch-time practice session, as it turned out, was quite necessary. Everyone's parts were well-rehearsed, but they had trouble synching their playing. The two cellists, in particular, were frustrated, because the piece would often unravel as they began their parts. Hikaru was bored. Her part consisted mainly of rolled cords, and they were not getting any more interesting as the lunch hour dragged on. Sai was even more bored. He sat in the empty chair beside Hikaru, chin propped on hand, thinking about the _kifu_ he had all but memorized from Hikaru's closet wall.

When the lunch hour was over, Hikaru had second thoughts about joining the club. She was not looking forward to all the other practice sessions before next week's show, and as a result, looked a little dejected as she walked down the hall with Akari.

"What's wrong, Hikaru? You look kind of down," Akari asked. She was not looking too chipper herself, given her poor performance in front of her violin-playing crush.

"I'm alright!" Hikaru answered, perking up her face. "You're the one who looks down."

"Well, it was sort of embarrassing not being able to play in sync back there," Akari sighed. "Mori-senpai and I are meeting up after school to work on our cello parts, though, so tomorrow should be much better."

Hikaru smiled. Her smile turned into a simper.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much, Akari. Nakayama-senpai didn't seem to mind at all. He seemed really happy just to have you there, actually."

Akari's whole face turned beet-red. She went to give Hikaru a slap on the arm, which Hikaru artfully dodged with a chuckle.

The two made their way back to class.

* * *

When school let out that day, Hikaru again burst out of her chair and was at the train station in less than ten minutes. Even Sai was impressed at her speed. For Hikaru, somehow, taking Sai to play go felt particularly important to her. It had been a bit difficult to keep up with Sai's lesson yesterday, but Hikaru felt an strange determination to see more games and a stronger determination to let Sai play. She took the Yamanote line and got off at Tabata station, then began looking around for the address. Finally, she gave up, called the number she had written down the night before, and asked the gruff voice at the end of the phone for directions.

This go salon was on the second floor, but the building did not have an elevator. The interior was also incomparable to the atmosphere of the salon from yesterday. This salon was much smaller, and lit with fluorescent lights. The go boards were placed on rows of plastic wood-grain tables flanked by thinly cushioned green chairs. Newspaper clippings dotted the otherwise bare walls, and in the corners were boxes of what looked like soft drinks and instant ramen.

The place was also loud. And stuffy. And smelled strongly of tobacco.

"Here we are, Sai."

Hikaru plastered her most encouraging smile on her face and headed in to the counter.

"Hi, Mister!" Hikaru chirped.

The thin old man turned around and peered at Hikaru through his spectacles.

"Hi there. You that girl who called just now?"

"Yes, I am."

"Looking for a game? That's 1,100 yen."

 _What? Eleven thousand? Why is this dingy place more expensive…_

"Yeah, I'm here for a game, but I don't want to pay unless there's someone who can play me right away."

The old man chuckled. "Well, you're certainly impatient. I guess all young people are, these days."

Hikaru laughed a little nervous laugh. "Well, it's just that I had to wait half an hour at the place I went to yesterday, and I couldn't even leave because I'd already paid."

"Hey, missy, I'll play ya!" A booming voice behind Hikaru startled her. She whipped her head around to see a tall, large old man with bushy eyebrows that looked like two scruffy cat tails.

"If you win, I'll even pay your entrance fee! How's that?"

"Really? Yeah, I'm down for that!" Hikaru agreed almost out of instinct. Have someone else pay for her entrance fee? Yes, please.

 _"Hikaru, what you're doing feels an awful lot like gambling, you know,"_ Sai looked at Hikaru with a disapproving head tilt.

 _"Pssh Sai, you're thinking too much. This guy's just being nice! It's not gambling."_

Then, as if to prove her point, she looked at the man and smiled her sweetest crescent-eyed smile.

"But let's be clear, "Hikaru said to Uncle eyebrows, "I'm not paying for your entrance fee if you win, Mister." The large man boomed with laughter, and the owner and some patrons sitting nearby joined in.

"Don't you worry, missy," the man chuckled, "It'll be my gift. If you win, that is."

Hikaru followed his lead to the back of the small salon, getting some curious glances from the other patrons along the way. She noted that the demographic of this place really was 100% old uncles.

"First time here, missy?" Uncle eyebrows sat back into his chair and looked at Hikaru with the same curiosity. "How long you been playin'?"

"Oh, for a while." She exchanged a private smile with Sai. The pair had spent the train ride deciding on the little white lies Hikaru would tell regarding her skills at go.

"You any good?"

"Sure, I'd say I'm pretty good."

"Hah! Alright then, girl's got spunk!" said Uncle eyebrows. "Pretty good, huh? How 'bout I give ya two stones to start.

"What, no way!" Hikaru exclaimed, acting indignant. "You promised to pay my fee if I won. Can't have you saying it wasn't a fair game!"

This reasoning seemed to work just as well on the old man as it had on Touya. He leaned back into the chair, which creaked under his weight, and lit a cigarette.

"Your choice, missy, but you take black. Can't have the guys in here saying I bullied a little girl, now can I?"

Laughter filled the salon, and Hikaru rolled her eyes.

"Fine. Your guidance, please."

As the game unfolded, Hikaru noticed that the beginning shapes of this game felt very different from the one yesterday. White was clearly not expanding nearly as well as black was, staking out much smaller pieces of territory and looking altogether somewhat disorganized.

 _"Um, Sai? This guy isn't as good as Touya-kun from yesterday, is he?"_

 _"Well-spotted, Hikaru. No, I'm afraid not. He isn't bad, but nowhere near the boy's skill level."_

 _"Oh, that's too bad."_

 _""He is only an amateur, someone who, no doubt, cannot spend all his time on go. For that, his skill level is actually quite impressive."_

 _"You know, you're too nice, Sai. You have a positive thing to say about everyone."_

 _"There are always nice things to say, Hikaru, and anyone can be a worthy opponent. I think I'm going to stretch this game a bit longer, come to think of it…Yes, I want to see more of this man's interesting response tactics. "_

They exchanged more hands, Hikaru watching the old man's face tense more with each move. It was a quick game, and in the end Uncle eyebrows didn't stand a chance. He resigned before _yose_.

Hikaru was taken aback. The game yesterday had lasted nearly twice as long, and they hadn't even finished.

" _Woah, Sai! That was fast. You must be a lot better than him."_

 _"That was not so fast for the level he was at, Hikaru. I even took my time."_

 _"But yesterday's game…"_

 _"Hikaru, you'll find, as we keep playing, that most people we meet will not be able to play at the level the boy played yesterday."_

 _"Really? That good, huh? Lucky us that we bumped into him on the first day."_

Uncle eyebrows was now staring at Hikaru with a suspicious curiosity.

"Say, missy, who exactly are you? You're too good to be an amateur."

"I…what?" Hikaru snapped back to the situation in front of her, and avoided Uncle eyebrows' narrowed gaze.

"You're not a pro, are you? I have a friend who was a pro, and I could beat him with a two-stone handicap. You're probably better than he is!"

"A pro? Like a professional go player? No way, that's ridiculous. I'm still in high school!" Hikaru stammered, trying to look nonchalant. She hadn't been prepared for this line of questioning.

"Hey, high school isn't young!" A voice beside them butted in. "For the past few years all the new pros were high school age!"

Around them, some patrons were getting out of their seats and coming over to stand above their table, examining their game.

"A pro, you said?"

"Yeah? Where? That girl?"

"What, she beat Kiyashi? He's one of the better ones here."

"Let me see, let me see…"

A proper crowd had formed around their little table in no time. Even the owner peered over his counter.

 _Oh my god, what is going on?!_

"No, I told you! I'm not a professional!" A number of old guys were nodding at their game, all impressed. Hikaru's eyes widened.

"An _insei_ , then?" one man asked. He was stroking his long white beard as he peered at the board, then at Hikaru. "She beat you up pretty good, Kiyashi."

Kiyashi scoffed. "Hey! I was just holding back, tryin'a be nice to the young lady! Didn't know she'd be so good...So, missy, are you an _insei_?"

"An… _insei_? What's that?" Hikaru leapt at the chance to change the subject.

"Eh, guess not," Kiyashi muttered, going back to staring at the game.

"You play this good and you don't even know what _insei_ are?" The bearded man exclaimed. The others looked even more curious.

"Uh...nope."

"They're students at the Go Institute, the _Nihon Ki'in._ They're kids in junior high or high school, all training to become pros." This explanation was given by a stout man carrying an expensive-looking cane.

"Wow, really? That's pretty cool. Do they still go to regular school?

"Yeah, they do," another man put in. "An _insei_ kid lives on my block, and I always see him and his friends going to school in the mornings. Or, at least, I can hear'em! A loud bunch of brats they are!"

Laughter started around the crowd again.

" _I wonder if Touya-kun from yesterday was an insei, Sai."_

 _"You could be right, Hikaru. Ah, how wonderful! No matter how society changes, there will always be young people who devote their lives to go and places that help them do it!"_

"Now, then, missy," Kiyashi started up again. "You're not a pro and you're not even an _insei?_ How come you're so good?" The others murmured in agreement.

Hikaru had thought her questions had distracted the crowd, but no such luck. She let out a nervous breath. She had known Sai was very good, obviously, but she hadn't expected his playing to attract _this_ much attention. They all thought he was pro level? What did that even mean? Why were they making such a big deal out of it?

Just how strong was Sai?

 _Yikes, what do I even say?_

"Geez, I'm not _that_ good," Hikaru chuckled nervously.

"What are you saying! Look at this, proof's right here! How are you this good as an amateur?" Kiyashi was nearly clambering out of his chair. More murmurs of agreement.

"You're all just being too nice, really," Hikaru insisted. "I only learned from a friend of mine so we could play, that's all. Besides, what can you tell from one game, right?" By now, Hikaru was just offering the first explanation that came to mind.

Though some of the uncles still looked at her with skepticism, others had turned back to study the board.

"Well, it was a pretty short game," someone quipped. "Maybe we're overreacting."

"Hah! Maybe missy here looks really strong because Kiyashi is too weak!" someone else suggested.

Kiyashi's indignant outcry was drowned out by another chorus of guffaws.

Hikaru hadn't even let out a sigh relief when she heard the bearded man say,

"You know what, I bet you're right. Come on, missy, I'll play ya. Let me show Kiyashi how it's done."

"As if! If you can beat her, I'll eat my shoe!" Kiyashi did not take kindly to this suggestion.

"Whatdyasay, missy? I'm way better than that old guy."

" _Sai? What do we do? Uuuugh this is really not going according to plan…If they think I'm too good they'll start asking more questions! Then I can't come back…and this place was the closest to my house!"_

 _"Play another game, Hikaru."_

 _"What? Didn't you hear me? You're too good, Sai."_

 _"Not to worry. I'll play some teaching games. That should be enough to convince them that you're just a fairly strong amateur."_

 _"You can do that? Play at their level?_

 _"Of course."_

 _"Won't they notice?"_

 _"The boy yesterday didn't notice right away, and he was much more skilled."_

 _"Well, if you're sure…wait, you said games? Plural?"_

 _"Just you watch, Hikaru. These men all love go. More than one is going to want a game with you before you leave."_

As it turned out, Sai was right. Hikaru thought it a little disconcerting that he could read these modern people better than she could.

The game against the bearded man lasted through to the end. Sai took his time playing the man, guiding him to the right moves without letting it show, and won him by six _moku_. It was a substantial win, but nothing compared to the first game. Even before their game was over, other guests were clamoring to play Hikaru as well, and none were as loud as Kiyashi.

"A rematch! I demand a rematch! No way you beat me to a pulp back there and only won Kishimoto by six _moku_! Rematch!"

Both ghost and girl were more than happy to oblige. When the game ended, Hikaru smiled her sweetest smile at her opponent.

"See, Mr. Kiyashi, I'm really not _that_ good. I bet you thought I couldn't be strong because I'm a girl, and really _did_ go easy on me the first time." Hikaru could be very convincing when she wanted to be.

"Alright, alright, quit being so cheeky, little missy. You still beat me by five _moku_. I still don't know how the hell you're so good…"

Despite his words, Hikaru could tell that he wasn't going to question her further about being a pro. Satisfied at this turn of events, Hikaru played another game before going home. Before she left, however, the patrons who couldn't get a game in with her badgered her until she promised to come back soon, so long as one of them paid for her entrance fee. Happy with this outcome, Hikaru left the building and headed to her house.

 _"So, that turned well alright after all,"_ she grinned at Sai, taking a long breath of fresh air after being cooped in a smoke-filled salon for hours.

 _"Yes, and although today's games were not very intensive, I did still thoroughly enjoy myself."_

 _"Well, good, I'm glad you did_ ," Hikaru nodded. _"I think we can go back there. But seriously, Sai, I didn't think you'd be so good that people would start asking questions. Did you see them back there? They were pretty demanding."_

 _"Yes, it appears so. I'm sorry Hikaru. I don't really know what to do either. With Torajiro, everyone just assumed he was a prodigy because he had started learning go so early in his life."_

 _"Well, just don't draw any more unnecessary attention to me, okay? If you can just play at the level of your opponent like you did today, things should be okay. Wouldn't be too hard, right?"_

 _"No, not to worry."_

" _Alright, let's hurry, Sai. I'm starving and Mom promised to make curry tonight."_

As they hurried along the sidewalk, however, Hikaru could not help but worry. She didn't want to draw any sort of attention to herself, but if she kept making Sai play at a level much lower than he was capable, how could he achieve what he had stayed in this world to do? How was he supposed to play this so-called "divine move" if all his opponents were old uncles at the go salon?


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: In which Hikaru meets a rude, loud-mouthed jerk on the train…

"Thanks again for coming with me, Waya. I don't know how I would have managed two suitcases alone."

Isumi 3-dan was sitting on the train with his friend and fellow go professional Waya Yoshitaka, headed to the airport. Each held on to a medium-sized suitcase with one hand and tried to eat their _onigiri_ with the other as the train sped forward.

"Don't mention it," Waya grinned, "And besides, I got a free lunch out of it." He waved the salmon rice ball Isumi had bought him and took another large bite.

Isumi laughed and bit into his own lunch. He had been invited by the China Go Institute—where he had previously spent two months studying—to teach as a guest instructor this spring. Isumi had accepted without hesitation. He had even been learning Mandarin just for the occasion.

"I still can't believe you're just going to pick up and go to _China_ ," Waya said, still chewing. "I get that you made friends there two years ago, but this is a huge thing you're doing for them!"

"I mean, they _are_ paying me. They did a lot for me when I was there, so I want to help out. Besides, I'm not just doing this as a favor."

In the summer of 1999, Isumi was, for lack of a better word, intimidated into failing his pro exams by the bulldozer powerhouse that was Touya Akira. Feeling discouraged, he had accepted an invitation from some pros the following spring to go with them to China and participate in a series of goodwill games. He ended up staying for two months, (skipping school, much to the consternation of his parents), and Yang Hai at the China Go Institute had helped him overcome his emotions in competition.

The following summer, Isumi had passed the exam with flying colors. That same summer, Yang Hai also became a pro in China, and now held a teaching job at the institute there. It was he who had asked Isumi to be a guest teacher, as a way to encourage the students—Le Ping included—to boost their games.

"What do you mean, not just a favor?" Waya asked.

"Well, I just feel like I've sort of plateaued this year. Maybe China will help."

"Really? That's not right. You've won nearly all your games this season, haven't you?"

"I have won a lot of games," Isumi sighed, "but it feels like I'm not really fighting to full capacity each time, you know? I don't really know how to express it."

"This is news to me," Waya frowned. "Why haven't you brought it up in study session before?"

"I'm not even sure what the problem is, so I haven't really told anyone, not even Narusawa-sensei. If I bring it up in study session, I'll get a thousand different opinions from all of you and get even more confused."

"Huh, okay. I haven't noticed when we've looked at your games, but I guess you'd know your own playing best. So, what, you're going to China to train?"

"Something like that," Isumi said thoughtfully. Last time, going to China had given him a major breakthrough in his playing and view of the game. Since passing the pro exam nearly two years ago, he had felt his gaming improving—inching a little bit forward—with each game he played. Recently, though, that inching had come to a halt. It was like there was some block on his skills, and he wanted another breakthrough. Isumi hoped that China would work its charm again.

"Still, isn't three months a long time? I didn't even know China gave out visitor visas for that long."

Isumi gave his younger friend a side-eyed look. "Waya, they're providing me free room and board, _and_ they're paying me. Why not stay a bit longer?"

"Geez, the Chinese sure are generous when it comes to supporting their go," Waya muttered.

"Yeah," Isumi sighed again.

If only their own government gave the Japanese go institutes that much monetary support.

"Anyway, it's a shame the institute didn't schedule me to play you this season," Isumi said after a silence. Waya had passed his pro exams the previous summer, and was playing in his first set of _Oteai_ games this spring. Isumi had actually been looking forward to playing Waya in an official capacity since he turned pro, but it was not meant to be.

Oh well. There was always the fall.

"Tell me about it," Waya wrinkled his nose. "I've actually got a bone to pick with the scheduling desk. Honestly, they had me play Touya literally in my second game! What's up with that?"

"Still not over that, huh? Honestly, I don't even know where this animosity comes from. Touya has always been a perfectly nice guy when I've seen him." Waya had brought up his displeasure at having to play Touya so early in his career too many times to count. During Wednesday's study session, they had completely dissected his utter defeat at Touya's hands, but that did nothing to placate Waya, whose red hair seemed to stand on end just at the mention of the prodigy's name.

"He's just so arrogant, you know? But he acts so suave, like he doesn't care? And what's with his wardrobe, anyway…"

After his tirade against Touya Akira, Waya finally changed the subject.

"Anyway, Isumi-san. Let's forget about that brat. When exactly are you planning on asking out Nase?"

Isumi almost choked on the plum in his rice ball.

"What?!"

"What?" Waya blinked, all innocence, then nudged his friend knowingly. "Don't act all surprised, man. We all know you've liked Nase for ages. What's the holdup?"

Isumi almost choked again. "What do you mean 'we all know'? Who's 'we'? And you've got it all wrong! I don't like Nase-san! We're just friends, and I respect her playing, and her perseverance, and…and…" His face had turned beet-red.

Waya smirked. "Don't worry, man. Let's see…only me, Honda, Fuku, Iijima, and Komiya know. Oh, and Ochi complained the other day that you two weren't dating yet, so I guess he knows too."

Isumi only blinked at him. He didn't know what to think. Finally, he said the only coherent sentence he could muster.

"Am I so obvious that even _Ochi_ knows?"

Waya burst out laughing.

"Man, sometimes you just _stare_ at her during study session, you know? Like, at her face, and then at her hands, and then back at her face? We get embarassed just watching you."

"Ugh, no! Do you think she can tell?" Isumi despaired, rubbing the spot between his eyebrows.

"No idea, but why hide it? Just tell her and ask her out already!"

"I can't do that! She and Iijima are…I don't know, but she likes him, doesn't she?"

"Uh, no." Waya rolled his eyes. "Iijima likes her, but they're not together or anything. I heard he tried to ask her out before he quit being an _insei_ , but apparently she told him she wanted to just be friends."

"Did she really?"

"Yeah! I'm positive. And besides, Iijima doesn't even hang out with us anymore. He's out of the picture, so he doesn't even qualify as competition."

"Wait, how do you know she turned him down?"

"Fuku overhead them."

"You mean Fuku was eavesdropping."

"Potato, potahto. Anyway, point is, she's not with anyone."

"Well, I still can't ask her out. She probably turned Iijima down because she's not interested in a boyfriend. That makes sense. She just passed the pro exam, so she probably wants to focus on—"

"Oh, come on, Isumi-san! Nase. Likes. You. I'm almost sure of it."

"What are you saying? How could you possibly know that? And if she liked me, why hasn't she told me?"

Waya sighed, as if Isumi was dense beyond all hope.

"Isumi-san, you're supposed to be smarter than me. Come on, can't you tell she's been trying to get closer with you? Hasn't she started calling you Isumi recently? You know, dropped all the honorifics and stuff? And she's always asking your opinion on _everything. And_ she's always inviting you to hang out and do non-go things."

Isumi opened his mouth to protest, but shut it again. After a few moments, he finally shook his head.

"No, no, she doesn't like me. If she were interested, she'd have said something."

"But you like her, and you haven't said anything!" Waya leapt out of his seat. This caused him to let go of Isumi's suitcase, which promptly began sliding away from them on the linoleum floor. Waya stumbled a couple of steps, retrieved it, and sat himself down again.

"Geez, Isumi-san, I'm telling you, she likes you! I don't know why she hasn't said anything, but who knows how girls' brains work? Either way, you should just man up and tell her. Stop hesitating! It's just a confession! Haven't you ever confessed to anyone before?"

Isumi gave him a curious look. They were go players. Nerds of the highest degree. Even when they were in school, they were far from average kids. Was Waya serious?

"Are you saying you _have_ confessed to someone before?"

It was Waya's turn to get red, but only slightly. "Uh, yeah, I liked a girl in middle school. I confessed to her too late, and then we graduated, so nothing happened. She accepted, though! And we hugged and everything! So…so…there's nothing to hesitate about."

Waya smiled a little awkwardly as Isumi gawked.

"You've never told me that, Waya! And this happened last year?"

"Yeah, I didn't tell anyone because nothing came of it."

"Wow, Waya, I never thought I'd say this, but you really surprised me."

"Well, I—wait, what does that mean?! Are you saying I'm predictable? I'm not predictable!"

"No, no, it's just, from the way you used to talk about school, I thought you didn't have much of a life there, that's all."

"Hey! I had a life at school!"

"Yes, yes, I'm sure you did, Waya."

"You're one to talk! You can't even confess to a girl that you like her!"

* * *

At the airport, after Waya had waved him through security, Isumi sat in the waiting area and thought about their conversation on the train. Yes, he did like Nase-san. Quite a lot, actually, and had for quite some time. Since their second year as _insei_ together, when she had announced that she could play as well as any boy and intended to compete in the general title matches one day, he had caught himself staring at her from time to time. Go always came first, but as the years went on he realized that he looked forward to Sunday not only because he got to play go the whole day, but because he liked spending the whole day with her, even if they weren't talking for most of it.

She was very pretty, and if it weren't for go, Isumi knew they would probably not have even met. Nase-san was bubbly and outgoing and funny, and reminded him of the girls at his high school who rolled their skirts up and wore makeup, who always traveled in groups, who were always giggling and whispering and peering at each other's pink flip-phones.

But Nase did play go, and Isumi was glad for it because it he could actually be her friend. She was smart. She was an excellent player. She had a steely resolve to never accept defeat, and he found it mesmerizing.

At this point, so many years later, he had just come to accept liking Nase as part of his daily life. Somehow, every day, she would pop up in his thoughts through some channel or other, and he would see her smile in his mind. The past year had been rough, because she was still an _insei_ while he had gone pro, and he couldn't see her every weekend anymore. Last summer, though, she had passed with Waya, and now he got to see her more than he ever had before. They were always at Waya's new apartment these days, and the number of times she's asked him to go to karaoke or the arcade with their _insei_ friends had increased too. Yes, his life since last August had truly been wonderful.

Isumi stared at his phone, flipping it up and then closing it again. Was Waya right? Could she really be interested in him, even a little? He'd always thought she just saw him as a nice friend, but maybe…

He got up and started to pace around the various souvenir shops by his gate. His mind raced, his ears turned red, but finally, he sat down again and resolutely scrolled through his contacts until he found Nase-san's number. He pressed call.

Then he promptly hit the hang-up button.

A few minutes later, he pressed call again. This time, he brought the phone up to his ear, took a deep breath, and waited.

A few rings later, Nase's voice came through the phone.

"— _Moshi moshi? Is that you, Isumi?"_.

"Yes, yeah. Uh, hi!"

She laughed. It sounded almost like a giggle. Isumi felt his face heat up.

 _"—What's up? Aren't you headed to China today?"_

"Well, uh, yes, I was. I am. I'm in the airport right now, actually."

 _"—Oh, cool."_

There was a moment of silence. Isumi took a deep breath.

"Listen, Nase-san, I…I just wanted…um…uh…"

"— _What is it?"_

Another deep breath.

"I really like you, Nase!"

Silence.

"I really like you, and I've liked you for a really long time, and I'm sorry I'm not telling you in person because I should, but I suddenly just needed to tell you _right now._ You…you…don't have to give me an answer right away. Or at all…if you don't…uh, yes, please, just do whatever you want with this. Think about it while I'm in China. Or don't, if…Sorry I'm telling you over the phone, but…but…"

More silence. Isumi thought he heard Nase take a deep breath over the line, but he couldn't be sure. And then,

 _"—Isumi, when do you come back?"_

"…Huh?"

"— _When do you come back?"_

"In July. July 8th."

 _"—Great. Can I call you then? We'll set up a date for dinner."_

"I…what?"

Another bubbling laugh came through the phone.

 _"—I like you too, Isumi. Let's go on a date when you come back."_

* * *

Rokuoiji High School excused special-track students like Hikaru from afternoon classes every Friday. The idea was they would use the time for make-up tests. This Friday was no exception, and Hikaru, having no tests to make up, left the school after lunch.

" _Where are we headed, Hikaru? Are we going back to the salon with the old gentlemen from yesterday?"_ Sai, excited as ever at the prospect of playing go, flitted around Hikaru like a butterfly. Hikaru smiled indulgently at him as she tread over the blanket of cherry blossom petals on the sidewalk.

" _Nope, we're going to my grandpa's house. He still owes me a very pretty music stand, and maybe I can get him to give me that go board you were living in. Just using that book without a physical board isn't really doing it for me."_

 _"Ah, I see, I see. Good idea."_

Hikaru paused for a moment, suddenly remembering something.

 _"You don't mind, do you, Sai? If I use Torajiro's board, I mean?"_

 _"No, that's alright. It brings back many fond memories, actually. But you…are you comfortable with the blood stains on it?"_

 _"Ooooh, I forgot about that. Eh, I'll have to see it again. If it bothers me, maybe Gramps has another board in that attic. He's such a hoarder."_

 _"Does you grandfather play go, Hikaru? Oooh, can I play him?"_

Hikaru raised an eyebrow at Sai.

 _"You mean you've lived in his attic this whole time and you don't even know if he plays go?"_

 _"What? Whatever do you mean? Before you came along, I was in an eternal sleep! How could I have known anything, Hikaru, how?"_

 _"Oh. Well, in that case, yes, he does play go. He played in some tournaments when he was young, but I don't know how good he is."_

 _"Well, none of it matters. Can I play him? Can I play him, please?"_

 _"Sai, Gramps knows I've never been interested in go in my entire life. I can't just show up and ask for a game. He'll think I was cloned or something. Don't worry, though. I'll let you play him one of these days."_

 _"Ah I see. I'll just have to be patient then. One day soon, though?"_

 _"Yes, Sai."_

 _They continued walking._

 _"Hikaru?"_

 _"Hm?"_

 _"What does "cloned" mean?"_

 _"Uh…don't worry about it."_

* * *

Shindou Heihachi was the typically indulgent grandfather, even more so because his only granddaughter never asked him for anything that wasn't related to her harp playing. And Heihachi was very proud of Hikaru's harp playing. Back when he babysat her, he would physically glow with pride when his friends heard her play. They looked at him with admiration then, genuinely impressed that he had such a talented granddaughter. How could he deny Hikaru anything?

And so, when his granddaughter showed up at his house for the second time that week—and especially given her disastrous fainting spell only two days earlier—Heihachi had needed very little convincing to get up into the attic of his shed himself and search for that rosewood music stand.

Unfortunately, the music stand was, once again, elusive. The pair looked in every single box in Heihachi's attic, (despite Hikaru's protests that she had already checked them all on the day she fainted), and sure enough, it was not there. This episode further softened Heihachi to his granddaughter's requests.

Hikaru mentioned that she wanted to start learning go. Since her grandfather had promised her a present, she reasoned that the ancient go board in his attic was a suitable substitute for the absent music stand. Heihachi agreed almost immediately.

He did remember to warn her of the supposed ghost in a tall black hat, but Hikaru had only smiled somewhat knowingly to the air beside her shoulder and waved it off.

"Don't worry Gramps," she'd said. "I don't believe in ghosts."

There is no way to exaggerate Heihachi's excitement at Hikaru's sudden interest in his favorite pastime. The old man herded his granddaughter onto his back porch, then brought out book after book of _kifu_ , go instruction, and go analysis, completely deaf to her protests that these were way too many for her to handle. Finally, he laid an old handbook from the Go Institute on top of the pile and told her,

"There, that's some light reading for you. Once you work through all of these, come play a game with me."

That afternoon, Hikaru stumbled out of her grandfather's house, balancing a large box containing one blood-stained go board, two dusty _goke_ , and thirteen old books. It was going to be a long journey home.

She toppled down the stairs into the nearby station, trying to adjust to her new center of gravity, and had just managed to nab the single empty seat in the car when she heard someone yell at her,

"Hey! I was sitting there!"

* * *

Waya was on the subway home from the airport, listening to his Walkman and thinking, yet again, about his recent game with Touya.

 _Stupid! Stupid, stupid. Why didn't I connect in the upper right when I had the chance? I knew he would use every crack in my defense against me, so why did I insist on attacking? Stupid!_

As he wallowed in his self-flagellation, he lost track of time, and when he remembered that he was on a moving train, Waya realized he had no idea what stop they were at.

 _Dammit!_

Just as his thoughts were returning to reality, Waya thought he heard the loudspeaker announce the station two stops after his own. He leapt out of his seat to check the stop monitor over the heads of the standing crowd.

Thankfully, they were still five stops away from his apartment in Shinjuku. Relieved, Waya turned around to sit back down. He blinked. In his seat—the seat he had vacated just fifteen seconds ago—now sat a small girl carrying a very large box.

A little dumbfounded, Waya took a few moments to comprehend the situation.

"Hey! I was sitting there!"

At his cry, the girl looked up from the pile of books in her box, green eyes all innocent and clueless.

"Yeah, you! I'm talking to you! You stole my seat!"

The girl cocked her head, looking at Waya as if he were insane, then, slowly, furrowed her eyebrows.

"Your seat? If it were your seat, you'd be sitting in it. This is my seat."

"What?! I got up for literally a second! You fucking stole my seat!"

"There aren't assigned seats, stupid! You sit in whatever empty seat you can find! This one was empty, so I sat in it. What the hell is your problem?" The girl's voice was raised now, too, and they were beginning to attract onlookers.

"Stupid? Look who's talking! My problem is that you saw I was sitting there! I barely got up to look at the monitor, and you just—"

" _SHHHH!_ Hush, you delinquents! This is a public train! Shut your mouths!"

Waya and the girl looked up, both resembling deer in headlights, at the booming third voice. It was a large, middle-aged uncle, and he glared at the two teenagers from across the isle. Beside him, several fashionable old ladies had stopped their whispered chatter and were also glaring over at them.

Waya's first instinct was to tell the man to mind his own business, but everything about him—his broad, square jaw, his thick pointed eyebrows, and even his voice—all bore an unsettling resemblance to Morishita-sensei. His eyes widened, all protest dying in his throat, and he mumbled an apology before turning back to the culprit in his seat.

The girl, too, seemed to be somewhat chastened. Waya narrowed his eyes at her. She narrowed hers back up at him.

"Didn't you hear the uncle?" she sneered, her voice a scathing whisper. "This is a _public train._ I found an empty seat. Quit looking at me like that."

" _Che!_ You and I both know I was sitting there first. You're just trying to make yourself feel better for being a depraved seat thief."

The girl closed her eyes and took a long, deep breath, but was apparently unable to keep her response to herself.

"Even if you were sitting here—which you _weren't_ , because this seat was _empty_ when I took it—but even if you were, you should at least have had the decency to offer it to me. Do you see this ogre of a box I'm carrying? You really have no social decency, do you?"

Waya's mouth fell open. How did this turn into his fault? He was the victim here, but now this girl was accusing him of having no social decency?

"I…I…" he sputtered. "Just because you're a girl you doesn't mean you can bully people and steal their seats!" The words were out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

The girl's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of her sockets, they were so wide.

"Me? Bully you? I'm here, minding my own business, trying to get this giant box home safely, when _you_ come along and start yelling at me! You have the audacity to accuse _me_ of—Oh!"

Before she could finish, the train jerked to a stop at the next station. The books resting on the top of her box slid to one side, and she scrambled to catch them with one hand while holding the box steady with the other.

One of the books fell the floor, and reflexively, Waya bent down to retrieve it.

It was only as he straightened up that he remembered the situation. Without looking at her, he thrust the book back into the box.

"Thanks," she mumbled, barely audible through the din of the station outside.

As she adjusted the books to prevent any more sliding, Waya looked down and saw, with surprise, that she was carrying an old go board and _goke_ in the big cardboard box. It looked like a nice board, too, possibly Kaya, and the surface was weathered but polished. How unusual. He was pretty sure the girls at his old high school didn't even know what go was.

Waya eyed her with a wary interest. For some minutes, he debated whether or not to open his mouth, but curiosity won out in the end.

"You uh…you play go?"

Silence. Then,

"What's it to you?" She did not sound any friendlier.

Waya snorted. "Never mind. I should have known someone like you wouldn't know how to play."

If she wasn't holding her box with both hands Waya was convinced she would have slapped him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" the girl hissed. "What, you think girls can't play go?"

Waya's brain was about to explode. What had he done to deserve this? Hadn't he just picked up a book for her? He had been nice! And he was the victim here! Once again, without thinking, he shot back,

"What if I do think girls can't play go?"

The scalding, murderous green of her eyes as she glared at him from under her lashes made him immediately regret his decision.

"Wait, I didn't mean it like—"

Her eyes narrowed into dangerous lines.

"You seem to have a lot of opinions about women. Why don't you tell me more, hm? Girls are domineering _and_ unintelligent? What else?"

"I told you! I didn't mean it like that…I…I was just…"

Waya didn't think he had ever misspoken so badly in his life. Of all the times he'd put his foot in his mouth, this was quite possibly the worst.

The cluster of old women were looking over again, muttering among themselves and looking at Waya with what appeared to be punishing contempt. How was this happening? He felt himself slowly sinking into a hole he had somehow dug for himself.

He had no idea what to do.

The girl gave a little scoff.

"You think girls can't play go? I'll show you just how wrong you are, you ignorant jackass. Let's play a game! Right now."

"What? This is a moving train!"

"This stop is Shinjuku Gyoen. We can play there."

The train was, at this moment, conveniently pulling into station.

"Wait, but—"

"What, you say girls can't play go but you're too scared to play me? So you're an ass who's all talk, huh?"

"Fine!" Waya felt his own irritation bubble at the acid in the girl's voice. Who did she think she was? "Fine, let's go to the park! Just don't get too embarrassed when you lose!"

* * *

The Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden is an expansive, 143 acre park in Tokyo's Shinjuku district. Formerly a family estate, then an imperial garden, it became open to the public after the war. In the spring, the cherry trees that line the park paths become heavy with flowers, and as the warm breeze travels through, the whole park is touched by the faintest clean smell of the _sakura_. The entire park is a palette of tender greens and gold and every conceivable shade of soft pink, all pressed harmoniously against a baby blue sky.

On this particular Friday afternoon, a small girl in a high school uniform with a very large box in her hands stomped along one of these flower-laden paths, face as cloudy as the day was clear, completely ignoring her watercolor surroundings. A few paces behind, a boy of similar age followed, face just as ominous, glaring at the figure of the girl.

 _"Sai, you'd better teach that idiot a lesson!"_ Hikaru huffed. _"I can't believe he'd say something like that! The nerve of him! His views are completely medieval!"_

 _"I fully intend to teach him a lesson, Hikaru. You'll see"_ Sai floated alongside her, his eyes narrowed. _"And maybe he'll learn some manners, too. How very rude of him to yell at a lady in public! And to say that girls can't play go! Any of the Heian court ladies I tutored could beat him."_

 _"That actually sounds very interesting,"_ Hikaru conceded, voice still gruff. " _Please remember to tell me more about the court ladies and their go later tonight. Right now I have to focus on being pissed off."_

Neither ghost nor human seemed to remember or care that this particular girl, in fact, really couldn't play go. This was beside the point. Hikaru had no idea how many women were go players, but she was determined to show this jerk that a girl could beat him. She had a point to make, and details weren't important.

She came upon an empty bench, and set her big box down beside it. The boy came up behind her and frowned.

"This bench is right in the sun," he pointed out. "It'll be blinding. We can't play here."

"Sorry, I didn't know your eyes were so sensitive."

He ignored her jab and pointed to a bench right under a cherry tree.

"Let's use that one."

Hikaru rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"That one is covered in flower petals."

"Uh, you can dust the petals off, genius." He returned her eye-roll, walked over, dusted half of the bench, and sat down. Hikaru glared, but eventually followed. The afternoon sun actually was quite blinding.

She set down her box again, retrieved the go board and _goke_ and placed them on the bench, then sat herself opposite the boy. She made a point of not dusting away the layer of flower petals.

" _Nigiri,"_ Hikaru said, plunging her hand into the white stones and grabbing a handful. The boy opened the black _goke_ and plucked out one stone, but then held it up to examine it.

"Are these…dusty? How disgusting! When was the last time you washed these?"

This earned him a annoyed scowl.

"Not that it's any of your _business_ , but I just brought them down from my grandfather's attic. Now, _nigiri._ You do know how to do that, right?"

Waya heard himself growl. This girl was evil incarnate, he was sure of it. What was her problem? He had just been going about his day when she popped out of nowhere and riled him up into this current mess of a situation. What was worse, now his pride as a go player wouldn't allow him to just up and leave.

At least it would be a quick, easy win. He took some comfort in the knowledge that she would lose spectacularly. He knew the face of every Japanese female pro their age—there weren't that many—and he was certain she wasn't one of them.

The problem was, thought, even when he won, it wasn't like he could get in her face about it. What was he going to do, tell her 'see? I was right. Girls really can't play go'? He knew that wasn't true. Girls could play just as well as any guy, maybe even better. Having lost to Nase innumerable times in the past few years, Waya knew this fact better than most.

Still, he had said that to her in the train. He was irritated. She pissed him off. He wanted to get on her nerves too, and it just slipped out. Just thinking about how he was going to get out of this situation made his skin prickle.

Waya slapped the single stone down onto the old board.

She counted six stones. Silently, they exchanged their _goke_. After a minute's pause, the girl played her first move. Waya countered. Only a few hands in, Waya's irritation as slowly melting away, replaced by bemusement. The way she set up her _fuseki_ was strange, to say the least. It almost reminded him of…but that couldn't be right. Why would a teenage amateur use outdated _joseki_ from a hundred and fifty years ago?

Waya looked up at his opponent, and for a second forgot that it was his turn to move. All through their subway ride, she had reminded him of an angry hedgehog, quills up and ready to attack. Now, however, while she still looked less than pleased, a calm stillness had settled around her. The way she moved was fluid—not slow, but composed, as if nothing could ruffle her. Looking at her made Waya feel…relaxed, maybe. Coolheaded. Easy. As the wind picked up again, cherry blossom petals fell softly into her shock of black and blond hair. She looked like some flower fairy, still and otherworldly. The green of her eyes under her thick line of lashes shimmered, cold like glass. Suddenly, they flickered up at him. He felt his neck prickle.

"It's your move."

"Oh. Right."

Waya placed another stone and turned his attention back to the game. He didn't dare sneak another look at her face. They were still in early _fuseki_ , but he could tell she was good. A bit strange, but very good. Experienced. Better than he was expecting. He'd actually have to take her seriously.

* * *

 _"Sai, I hope you're going all out on this guy,"_ Hikaru said as she played another move. She couldn't really tell who had the upper hand. The general shapes didn't clearly favor one color as in the games Sai had played against the old uncles yesterday. Instead this game reminded her of their first game against Touya.

 _"Yes, I do plan on a quick game, Hikau,"_ Sai said.

 _"Can you tell if he's any good yet?"_ They were just entering _chuban._

 _"He is. Quite skilled, in fact. Not as good as the first boy, but stronger than most I've faced."_

 _"Seriously? This guy?"_ Hikaru placed a stone and looked up at her opponent. The angry glare he wore before the game was long gone, and he was staring at the board with a mixture of confusion and intense concentration.

" _Indeed. However, like I said, this game will quick."_

Sure enough, midway through _chuban_ , Hikaru placed a stone into white territory, and the red-haired boy gaped up at her, then down at the board, then finally bowed his head in resignation.

"Thanks for the game," Hikaru said shortly, not even bothering to hid the impatience in her voice. Already, she was beginning to clean up the stones.  
She was about to say more—almost opened her mouth to jab him with another insult—but Sai put a ghostly hand on her shoulder.

" _Hikaru, I think this boy will never underestimate women in the future."_

 _"Fine."_

Hikaru rolled her eyes, but did keep her mouth shut, if only so that Sai would take his frigid aura off of her.

"Who are you?"

Hikaru was halfway through tidying up when the boy finally spoke.

She looked up at him, eyes hard, and didn't answer.

"Seriously, who are you? How are you…how are you this good, but I don't know who you are?

Hikaru forgot that she was going to keep her mouth shut. Her lip curled into a contemptuous smile.

"What's that supposed to mean? You know everyone who plays go? What, can't deal with the fact that some random girl beat you?"

The boy took a deep breath.

"I already told you, I didn't mean what I said on the train. Really, I didn't! I just…I just wanted to piss you off, okay? I've played girls who were better than me. I don't think girls can't play go. That's ridiculous."

"Oh. So you're just an angry jackass, then."

"Look, can we stop talking about what I said? I'm serious. You're too good for an amateur, so just who are you?"

This last sentence caught Hikaru's attention. She stopped her tidying and looked up at him.

"What do you mean, too good for an amateur?" she asked carefully.

"I'm a pro. A professional go player, and I've—"

"You're _what_? You're a professional go player? _You?"_

"Hey, don't look so surprised!"

Hikaru's eyes grew very wide and very round. She blinked rapidly, trying to comprehend, and looked as if she had just received terrible news.

 _"Sai?! Did you hear that? This guy is a professional? But…but that game you just played…you beat him by so much…you…him…how on earth am I supposed to explain this now?"_

 _"Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear. This was unexpected, indeed."_ Sai did not know how he could be of help.

" _Perhaps, Hikaru, the best way would be to take leave and not tell him anything."_

"So, who are you? Are you a pro from Korea or something? I know for sure you're not a Japanese pro with the _Nihon-ki'in,_ and you don't sound like you're from Kansai, so…"

"What? What are you even saying? I'm not a pro." Hikaru held up her hand for effect

"You're not? But how is that possible? You're so much better than me! Maybe a couple of the best amateurs in the world could beat me by a few _moku,_ but your level of playing is way beyond that!"

"I…I think you're mistaken." Hikaru had gone back to tidying up the stones at lightning speed. "I have no idea what you're saying, and who I am is none of your business."

"But—"

"Dude, let it go! I'm just a regular person who plays go sometimes. I got mad because you were stupid on the train, so I wanted to prove you wrong. Now that's done, and I've got places to be."

With this, she put the _goke_ and board back into the box, lifted the box with both hands, and marched back in the direction of the station. After a moment, the boy chased after her.

"Oh, come on, what's your problem?"

"Clearly, I'm not the one with the problem here."

"My name is Waya Yoshitaka. I'm a 1-dan. Just turned pro this year. Can't you just tell me your name?"

"No. Go away, Waya-san."

"You can't just play a game like that and leave without telling me anything!"

"I believe that's exactly what I'm doing."

"Come on! Just tell me who you are! At least, who'd you learn go from? How long have you been playing? Your _joseki_ are really outdated, you know."

"Like I said, it's none of you business."

"Can't you just—"

"Leave me alone!" Hikaru finally snapped.

"No!" The boy called Waya yelled right back. "You can't just play a game like that and leave!"

"Watch me." Hikaru whipped her head around and kept walking, faster than before. The whole way out of the park and to the station, the boy walked alongside her and badgered her for information, but Hikaru did not say a single word. Her face just grew darker and darker as she tried to keep down the annoyance bubbling up her throat.

Finally, they reached the station. Hikaru surveyed the crowds as she waited in line at the turnstile, searching for the best way to blend in and lose her new tail. The boy was right in line behind her. When her turn came, in a practiced motion she leaned over and let her PASMO card scan against the machine through the side pocket of her backpack. She walked through, trying to duck into a crowd before the boy could get in.

As she looked back, however, she was surprised to see the boy still at the turnstile. Something seemed to be wrong with his own card.

" _Yes! You see that, Sai? Let's lose him!"_

 _"Hikaru, really, that was an very rude encounter. When I said take your leave, I didn't mean the way you just did."_

 _"Dude! You saw how he kept chasing after me! What else was I supposed to do?"_

Sai sighed and followed Hikaru as she darted into the crowd and boarded the newly arrived train.

 _"I suppose you are right, Hikaru. Alas, how times have changed for the worse! To think that society is so lacking in manners and social etiquette…"_

 _"Sorry I'm not some court noble, Sai, but you'll be happy to know that the imperial family is still alive and thriving! We did get rid of the shogun though."_

 _"There is no longer a shogun? But the imperial family thrives? My, it's as if you've returned to the ways of the Heian court!"_

 _"Well…not exactly…"_

Hikaru spent the rest of the train ride home explaining the ideas of a constitution and the National Diet to a flabbergasted, albeit highly intrigued Sai. Further discussion of the go pro named Waya and his revelations that day were abandoned for the time being.


End file.
